The Gold Echo
by TrueLoveFan
Summary: Anna, Marie, and Justin have moved into the Russo household and things are going great. Then Justin and Alex are invited to a summer semester at WizTech but can they survive being on their own especially when old enemies enter the picture?
1. Chapter 1

**Title:** The Gold Echo

**Author Name**: TrueLoveFan

**Rating**: PG-13

**Warnings for**: None (for this chapter)

**Notes:**

**-** Here it is the long awaited sequel to "Nothing Gold Can Stay"!

- This is just a chapter to fill you all in on the changes that have occured between NGCS and TGE.

- Italics are flashbacks.

- This chapter is dedicated to Taylor (crazybeagle) for keeping at me about this and to Christine (it's-not-amoose323) for understanding the love of fanfiction too.

**Disclaimer**:

_**All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of TrueLoveFan. TrueLoveFan is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.**_

* * *

**Alex's POV**

After the hectic events of our last visit to the Michaels things settled down for us. We moved Anna into my room, Justin into Max's and Marie into Justin's old one. Max and I didn't mind sharing our rooms with Justin and Anna. It was an adjustment, of course, but not one we couldn't handle. Sharing a room helped foster a friendship between Anna and I that was growing stronger by the minute. We shared secrets that I wouldn't and hadn't even shared with Harper. Though, in all fairness, Anna knew about magic and Harper didn't that made a big difference. We also kept each other's secrets. Well it was more like she kept mine because Anna didn't have many…yet. She knew Justin and I had kissed and had kept that to herself and she knew Justin snuck in our room at night to sleep beside me. It wasn't our fault we could no longer sleep alone.

Marie, Justin, and Anna grew close too. It was heartwarming to see if a little too Hallmark for my tastes. Max and I were bonding as well. This whole experience was just creating stronger ties among the ruins of our old worlds, I guess. It was nice, feeling connected again, after feeling so lost from everyone else for so long.

Anna and Marie were doing fabulous with their magic lessons or so I heard my dad tell my mom. The two weren't caught up to us yet and I wasn't sure they would because we'd been training for years before them, but still I was proud of them. They were, according to dad, mastering spells in two days that it had taken me and Max a week to learn. Max and I, at the age we learned those spells, were much too young to care. They were proceeding at the same speed that Justin always did; full speed ahead.

Not everything was fairytale happiness however. My parents tried to hide it because they felt it was their responsibility to do so but Max, Justin, Anna and I all knew. Money was tighter than ever. We were barely getting by. Two new mouths to feed, plus clothes that fit because the girls had none, and school stuff. Money was scarce. The four us picked up shifts at the substation and Justin and I even got second jobs to try and help but they wouldn't let us. That didn't stop us, though. If there was one thing I knew it was how to be sneaky. Even with our supplemental incomes it wasn't enough. Something had to be done to bring money in and fast.

On an even more personal level I was still desperately confounded by Justin and the mess that was my feelings concerning him. Justin wasn't my brother, but he was my best friend. He knew everything there was to know about me…well almost. There was more to it than that though. I could feel it and I knew it. We "weren't meant to be related" that had to mean we were meant for more than friendship because relatives can be friends. Of course the context in which my dad had stated it had left it ambiguous as to who wasn't meant to be related, but I knew. How could I not? These feelings inside me made that much clear. Outside of the single kiss, which can and is in my conscious mind blamed on the romantic-ness of the on-screen scene and its relative-ness to our situation, nothing had happened. We hadn't kissed again and I wasn't sure if we ever would. I wasn't even sure if I wanted to.

About a month after Anna, Justin, and Marie moved in our small apartment Anna's birthday arrived. Birthdays in the Russo household were always a thing to behold. Lots of food and chaos. When we asked her what she wanted to do for her birthday the soon-to-be fourteen year old just stared at us. Apparently neither Anna nor Marie had ever had a birthday party before. Well, that didn't leave us much choice did it? We had to make the day special for her.

_Everyone shuffled around the apartment kitchen. We had to get finished quickly and quietly. This event had everyone in the best of moods. Dad was flipping the pancakes with a giant grin on his face. It was so unfair that Anna had never celebrated a birthday before. Neither had Marie, but her birthday wasn't for a few months more._

_Mom and Justin were in the dining room area setting up the decorations and getting everything ready. I could hear Justin laugh every time my mom tried to reach the ceiling to put up a streamer and wanted so badly to see it. It had been so long since I saw Justin laugh. It wasn't surprising, of course, given recent events._

_Max had the most important job of all. He was responsible for stalling Anna as long as he could without her getting suspicious and, when he could no longer keep her upstairs, he was to signal us. I had no idea what he managed to cook up to keep them up there but it was working well. Anna had been awake for an hour and a half and was still upstairs. _

_I handed the bowl of scrambled eggs to Marie who was practically jumping in place. She and her only biological sister had been spending time together recently, much to the little girl's delight, and she couldn't wait for Anna to see her present. She had worked so hard on it and wouldn't let anyone help her, not even Justin. It was her present, she had declared vehemently, she could do it all by herself. Thank you very much. No one knew what it was. Marie wouldn't tell us or let us see. She was just something else entirely._

_"Marie," I informed her sternly to get her to focus on what I was telling her. She was all over the place that morning. "I need you to go and give this to Justin, okay? Be very careful and walk slowly." She nodded her tiny head. This was a big person job I was giving her and she knew that. With that, Marie scurried away stepping slowly and carefully into the other room._

_"Justin," I heard Marie say as I walked over to the sink to begin washing the dishes. I wanted to grumble to my dad about not being able to use my magic to do that, but it wasn't the time. I didn't want my emotions causing any chaos on Anna's birthday. "Alex told me to give these to you."_

_"She did, did she?" Justin replied and I giggled imagining the confused look on the six-year-old's face. Justin purposfully flipped sentences that way just to cause Marie trouble. The little girl huffed in mock anger and walked back into the kitchen._

_"Alex!" She whined the second she was through my side of the door. "Justin did it again." Ah, the wonderful familiarity of routine. I knew exactly where this was going and what the smallest member of the house expected of me._

_"What would you like me to do about that?"_

_"Make him stop, please."_

_"He wouldn't listen to me." I responded automatically._

_"Yes, he will," She urged tugging on my hand pulling into the other room. "He listens to every word you say, Alex." This was a break in the routine; that was surprising to me. Before I could say anything in response to it the two of us were standing in front of the young male in question. He grinned knowing the conversation that was about to occur. I fought the smile trying to appear on my face and instead put on my annoyed look._

_"I hear that you're purposely confusing Marie, Justin, is that true?" I placed my hands on my hips and waited for his response. He opened his mouth to answer me, but then came the noise we'd all been waiting for. Two loud stomps on the floor one right after the other. Anna and Max were headed downstairs._

_The mock display was quickly forgotten as we all scrambled to get the last minute touches just right and then get in place. A tradition unlike any other in the Russo household was the morning birthday greeting. I used call it the "scare-the-crud-out-of-the birthday-boy-or-girl" tradition. Dad swiftly handed each of us a can of spray confetti and our horns._

_"I don't see why you want to keep playing, Max. You're just letting me win." Anna complained lightly as her footsteps reached the top of the staircase. Marie bounced eagerly on her heels with her can of spray confetti poised and ready._

_"You're the only one that will play with me." Max commented his voice growing closer and closer as the two descended. _

_"There's a reason for that." Anna joked lightly and then they were in sight and confetti exploded and horns were blown. The now fourteen-year-old girl jumped back startled by the chaos. Max steadied her and urged the girl down the rest of the steps._

"_Happy Birthday!" We cheered as a group. She smiled when she reached us and hugged the eager Marie to her. Max let his hands fall back to his side and slid in the line next to me. This was Anna's day and he didn't want to take up any of her spotlight. It was sweet._

"_Thank you guys." _

"_Presents now?" Marie chirped hugging Anna tight. She loved hugs; it was obvious in how much she quickly accepted them and gave them amongst us. Mom laughed._

"_After breakfast, Marie." Theresa told the little girl as she ushered us into the dining room. Marie's eyes filled with shiny tears and my heart tugged for her. She really wanted to show Anna what she had made her. Before I could say a word for Marie's side my dad jumped in._

"_I think just this once it would be okay." Mom glared at dad for a split second before her face softened and she nodded. Marie yipped and bounded out of the room to fetch her present. Everyone else stood, waiting, for the little girl. The six-year-old was back in the room before even a whole minute had passed with the haphazardly wrapped package clutched tightly to her chest. Without a word she held the sparkly papered box out to her sister. Anna took the present carefully and unwrapped it slowly taking the time to admire the wrapping Marie had tried so hard to get right. After the paper lay on the edge of the table and the box opened the taller Michaels' daughter slid the present out._

_The present was a picture of Anna with Marie up on her shoulders at the zoo. The frame was obviously from one of those decorate your own kits. Marie had painted it light blue and then proceeded to stick, what looked like, wvery sticker she could find on the blue wood. At the top in Marie's own handwriting were the words "Best Sisters Forever". This, like everything else about the present, was obviously painstakingly done. _

_"Is it bad?" Marie asked her voice small and quivering with unshed tears. Anna tore her eyes, also teary looking, from the framed picture and knelt down._

_"This is the best present I've ever gotten." Anna replied setting the frame down on the floor by her knee. She opened her arms up. "Thank you." Marie flew at the older girl like a bat out of heck and the two ended up lying on the floor laughing and crying at the same time._

_"Girls," Max muttered. "I'll never understand them."_

Anna also received several outfits from my mom and my dad got her her very own wand. Justin, Max and I had combined our magical efforts to create a secret magical library for Anna's ridiculously large book collection in our room. The door of which only appeared when Anna wanted it to and only opened with the wave of her new wand and her secret password which none of us knew. The library was expandable so that it would grow as her collection would grow and had more than enough shelves to accommodate her needs. All of these presents got the fourteen-year-old teary and by the end of it all even I was a little misty.

Then came the next big hurtle for our group: school. Marie simply couldn't understand why she had to go to a different school then the rest of us. It didn't make sense to her no matter how many times we tried to explain it. The first day we all headed out to school, we all walked her to the bus stop and bid her a good day then Anna, Max, Justin and I walked to our school. School was an interesting experience that day. Max told me Anna was mobbed by all the guys in their grade and he had to keep them off. The second Harper found out Justin was back she was demanding information from me. I just pushed my way past her. She'd been ignoring me for months; why should I answer her questions? Soon enough things calmed down at school and we all fell into a comfortable pattern once more.

Until Professor Crumbs showed up personally to deliver summer semester invitations to Justin and I.

_"Me?!" I couldn't help the squeaky tone of my voice as I stared down at the letter in my hands. He had to be mistaken. I wasn't the type of wizard that belonged in Wiz Tech. Devoted wizards belonged in Wiz Tech. Smart wizards belonged in Wiz Tech._

_"Yes, Alex. You."Professor Crumbs replied with a smile masked by his gray beard. "You have more magic then you're used to now. The professors at Wiz Tech can help you train that." I tried to keep from looking sad. Of course they invited me because my magic was sporadic. I wasn't their type of wizard. Justin slipped his hand into mine._

_"I'm sure they don't just want you because of that." Justin whispered when Professor Crumbs turned to talk to my mom and dad. I nodded and squeezed his hand. He turned me to face him and grinned like an idiot. "We are going to Wiz Tech! Together!" I had to grin with that. Justin had wanted to go to Wiz Tech since he first learned of its existence. _

_"Together." I agreed and he nodded. Together._

_

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_

**A/N:** I hope you have enjoyed this chapter and I'll see you at the next update!


	2. Chapter 2

**Title:** The Gold Echo

**Author Name**: TrueLoveFan

**Rating**: PG-13

**Warnings for**: None (for this chapter)

**Notes:**

**-** I know some of you may be confused about everyone's ages in this story so I thought I'd clear that up.

- Anna and Jacob are now 14, Marie is 6, Justin is 16, Max is 13, and Alex is 14 about to be 15 in two months.

-This is a fair warning that WizTech is going to be like Hogswarts in this story with houses and such.

- The first name is the WizTech house name and second is their similar Hogswarts house.

Alphyn = Gryffindor

Bakunawa = Slytherin

Kelpie = Hufflepuff

Garuda = Ravenclaw

**Disclaimer**:

_**All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of TrueLoveFan. TrueLoveFan is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.**_

* * *

Alex stared openmouthed at the interior of WizTech. It was huge! Certainly bigger then it appeared outside. There were banners floating above their heads chanting nonstop about house sorting or something and several brooms were ducking and weaving through the crowds of people sweeping up dust. She watched amazed as the stairs suddenly changed their positions and none of the people on them were fazed even a little bit. A kid of probably twelve raced past Alex carrying a tiny flag that matched one of the floating banners and laughing like mad.

"I am not a bloody Alphyn! I'm gonna kill you, Trey!" screamed a second boy waving his matching flag angrily as he raced past Alex. The first kid circled around their group and headed back up.

"Alphyns rule!" He screamed from the top of the stairs and disappeared. Jerry chuckled from behind several of Alex's bags.

"I can't believe that house rivalry is still going on." His voice was muffled by the wall of bags, but he was still understood. "He's right, though. Alphyns do rule." Theresa rolled her eyes. School spirit was fine when in high school, not years and years after.

Alex set her two bags down on the floor. They were getting heavy and it appeared they were going to be in the foyer for awhile. She hadn't spotted a teacher around since they arrived ten minutes ago. They really should be controlling this chaos, though. Between people arriving and people departing it was a disaster inside the castle.

"Why, Alex, did you have to bring every single thing you own?" Alex turned to face her younger brother but couldn't find him.

"Max?" She questioned looking around the filled room for him.

"I'm under here." Spoke the pile of bags next to Anna. The fourteen-year-old Michaels' girl chuckled and removed two bags from Max's pile. His red sweaty face appeared in the gap Anna had created. "Seriously, Alex, you have a problem."

"I agree." Justin commented from beside her. Alex rolled her eyes. Justin had no reason to complain. His half was currently floating beside him thanks to his ability to cast the floating spell. He flicked his wand slightly and his half of her bags set themselves down gently. He flicked it again and unloaded Max and Jerry as well. They both took a deep breath.

"Fresh air!" Max exclaimed overdramatically as he took a seat on the floor. Anna didn't want him to look like a dork so she took a seat beside him and so did Marie who was standing on the thirteen-year-old boy's other side. Alex rolled her eyes. It wasn't that bad.

"I'm going be here for four months. I need four months of clothes." She stated defensively.

"You need twenty-three bags for four months worth of clothes? That's 5.75 bags per month." Justin commented and Alex pouted. She hated when they ganged up on her like this. It was unfair. Anna thought it unjust as well that the brunette was alone on her side of the argument and decided to help her new friend out.

"We have more clothes then you guys do. Thus, we need more bags. I'm sure everything in those bags is necessary." Alex shot Anna an extremely grateful smile and nodded in agreement. Max rolled his eyes. Yeah right. Like everything in the twenty-three bags was necessary. Who did they think they were kidding?

"I am not helping you unpack." Justin stated, ending the conversation. His comment had Max, Anna, and even Marie rolling their eyes. Of course he would help her unpack. Justin wasn't immune to Alex's puppy dog pout, no matter what he believed. Alex just gave a small smile and patted his forearm lightly.

"Whatever you say, Justin. Whatever you say."

"I'm not!" He declared vehemently. The group as a whole laughed. "I'm not."

"Michaels, Justin Venchenze Pepe and Russo, Alexandra Margarita?" The two in question turned at the sound of their names to face the speaker. It was an older gentleman with a gravelly voice and scary manner. They nodded and he checked them off on his clipboard. "Whose bags are whose?"

Alex pulled her red wand from her shoe and tried to magic her bags together. The twenty-three bags came to life with Alex's magic and vaulted for the castle's double doors. The fifteen-year-old blushed and flicked her wand and built a brick wall trying to prevent their escape, but the bags were smarter and just veered around it. Justin knew Alex had to learn to control her new magic by herself and that she couldn't do that if he kept doing things for her, but he couldn't stand by and watch people laughing at her without doing something. He flicked his wand making sure to keep it by his side so that only those in his immediate area would know he'd done anything. Her bags zoomed back and settled on the floor in a neat pile beside her and her brick wall vanished. Alex gave him a small smile of thanks and pouted down at her useless wand before answering.

"Umm…these bags are mine and those," She pointed to Justin's three blue bags between them. "are his." The gentleman nodded before moving onto the next set of incoming students on his list. Alex wondered why he bothered to ask when he wasn't going to do anything with them, but didn't voice that question out loud. She looked stupid enough as it was.

"Why did he ask about your bags if he wasn't going to take them?" Anna asked and Alex felt a little better. At least she wasn't the only one wondering that. As if on cue all incoming students' bags floated up the staircase in a straight line headed to destinations unknown to their owners.

"Sorting is about to start so we've got to go, guys," Jerry informed them, in a voice etched with sadness, and with his words everyone's faces fell. Jerry stepped up to his daughter and wrapped her up in a hug. "Have a good summer. You're coming home for your birthday, right?"

"Of course," Alex replied. This was the first time she'd ever been away from home for longer than a weekend. It felt weird to know that she wouldn't see her family again for two months, her daddy especially. "I'll write as often as I can. Okay?" Jerry nodded and pulled away with a little sniffle that only Alex heard. "I'll miss you, daddy."

"I'll miss you too, sweetheart," He whispered and then in his normal tone said, "Study hard and try not to cause too much chaos, okay?"

"So…I can cause a little chaos, then?"

"Alex!" Theresa scolded lightly. She pulled her daughter into a hug, holding her tears in. "Do NOT get sent home because of bad behavior." She stated sternly and pulled back. Alex caught sight of her dad whispering something to Justin as Max moved to bid her goodbye and wondered what was being said that was so vital. It wasn't often that her dad looked that serious.

Max stood awkwardly in front of her and bounced on the balls of his feet. Alex rolled her eyes betting Max's hesitation was the result of some man rule and pulled him into a brief hug.

"Take care of them, Max." She whispered in his ear as he was breaking out of her grip and tilted her head toward Anna and Marie. They had just recently left behind a brother, mother and father and now their older brother, their guide, was leaving them for four months. Max nodded seriously his slightly curly hair bouncing as he did so. "Take care of yourself too." She shot him a small smile as he stepped back into his previous spot.

Alex barely had time to notice Anna and Justin's hug before Marie came barreling into her legs almost knocking her down. The little girl had her legs in a death grip and Alex had to pry Marie arms away so she could lift her up. The second Marie was high enough she latched her arms around Alex's neck.

"Don't go," Marie whispered sadly into the fourteen-year-old's neck. Her tears poured pnto Alex's skin and it took everything in her not to agree. "Please, Alex, don't leave me." Alex buried her face in Marie's hair for a moment before lifting her face away prepared to explain to the little girl once more.

"Marie, we already discussed this didn't we?"Alex pulled back enough to see the six-year-old in her arms nod. "Since Justin saved me," Marie grinned impishly at that. "My magic doesn't work the same. You know that," The little one nodded. She did know that; the dining room lamp incident was still present in her mind. "The professors here can help me get my magic to work like before."

"Why can't Jerry help you? Like he is helping me and Anna," Marie questioned. She was careful not to call her new daddy by 'daddy' around Justin and Alex. It made them very weird.

"This is something that even my dad can't help me work out, sweetie," Alex told her somberly. A hand touched her lower back and Alex turned to see Justin standing beside her and Marie now.

"And Justin?"

"I need help with my magic too, Marie. Where Alex now has much more then she's used to, I have less."

"Plus, your brother's really smart. He belongs in this school." Alex commented. Justin shot her a look that said don't-think-that's-getting-by-me and wrapped both Alex and Marie up in a hug.

"We'll be back home before you know it." Justin assured them in a whisper. "Alex's birthday is in two months and we're coming home then." Marie's eyes lit up at the word birthday.

"More confetti?" She asked eagerly and the eldest teens laughed and nodded.

"We'll write you every week too." Alex threw in, happy to see a smile amongst all the dried tears. "You have to write back alright? Even if it's just a short letter." Marie nodded again and both Alex and Justin hugged her tightly. Justin took Marie from Alex's arms and set her back on her feet.

Anna walked up to Alex and timidly hugged her. Alex returned the gesture and allowed Anna to break it since she didn't want to make the girl uncomfortable. The two girls just stood there for a few seconds before Alex found something to say to her new friend.

"I'll be writing you every week as well and I want actual updates on you, okay? Not fake everything's fine letters." Alex informed her. If she didn't say it now, she knew those would be the types of letters she would receive from Anna. The other girl didn't want to unload her problems on someone else, but that's what friends were for, sharing your burdens.

"I'll try, Alex," Anna replied. Alex pulled the other girl into another brief hug before Anna stepped back into place next Max.

It was weird seeing Anna, Max, Marie, Theresa, and Jerry standing across from her like that. Prepared to leave her behind. Tears rushed to her eyes. She was strong. She could stand being away from her family from four months. She wasn't a little kid anymore. Right? Justin's hand slipped into hers and Alex squeezed it. She would be okay. She had Justin with her. She was always safe with him. Always.

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**A/N:** Next chapter Alex and Justin are sorted. Will they end up in the same house? Stay tuned to find out.


	3. Chapter 3

**Title:** The Gold Echo

**Author Name**: TrueLoveFan

**Rating**: PG-13

**Warnings for**: None (for this chapter)

**Notes:**

- Ages: Anna and Jacob are now 14, Marie is 6, Justin is 16, Max is 13, and Alex is 14 about to be 15 in two months.

- The first name is the WizTech house name and second is their similar Hogswarts house.

Alphyn = Gryffindor

Bakunawa = Slytherin

Kelpie = Hufflepuff

Garuda = Ravenclaw

**Disclaimer**:

_**All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of TrueLoveFan. TrueLoveFan is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.**_

* * *

"Incoming students get in two lines. Girls on the right, boys on the left." Alex got bumped several times as the students scurried to obey the orders of the African-American woman in the purple robes. She was standing in front of, what Alex heard a girl with frizzy red hair say was, the Great Hall. The woman in the purple robes shouted again for everyone to get in line, but Alex couldn't seem to move. It was all so new and shocking. Justin grabbed her elbow and pulled her into the appropriate line.

"Welcome to WizTech! I am Dr. Evilini, the head of Bakunawa house. In a few moments, you will enter the Great Hall where you will be sorted into your houses for the summer," Dr. Evilini paused as though this were of monumental proportions and then continued on.

"The houses are as follows, for those who don't already know: Garuda, table two, the house of those with the brains to solve the entire world's problems…with or without magic. Kelpie, table three, the house for only those with the most loving and loyal of hearts. Bakunawa, table four, the house of the most cunning and ambitious wizards. And then there is Alphyn, table one, the house for the bravest and daring of all in the Wizarding World."

Justin nodded along with the speech already knowing all of the information presented and more. After he decided to accept his WizTech invitation, he'd gone out and bought the most recent edition of WizTech: A History. Alex half listened to the speech not really caring about the different houses. She didn't have any say in the matter, did she? She would just be put there so what was the point in wasting space in her brain with the information. She did hope that she and Justin would end up in the same house, though.

"You will remain in your lines until I call you. Then you will come up on stage and be sorted. Once your house is declared you will then join your new housemates at the designated table and watch the rest of the sorting ceremony. You will not speak during your sorting or Headmaster Crumbs' speech. Is that clear?" As a whole the generally nervous group nodded and Dr. Evilini turned her attention elsewhere allowing the ragtag group a chance to relax once more.

They were soon after marched into the Great Hall. The long room was filled with people and had four extremely long tables on the main floor. There was an even longer table on a raised platform at the front of the grand room. Seven people Alex didn't know in purple robes sat surrounding Headmaster/Professor Crumbs at the raised table looking down at the two lines of new students indifferently.

All was silent for a moment as the new kids were stared down and then Dr. Evilini stepped on the stairs up to the raised platform. An exceptionally pale older woman with dark purple hair dotted with gray strands and glasses, that reminded Alex of something Harper would wear, joined her silently. The women turned to face the two lines and then Dr. Evilini snapped her fingers. A single piece of parchment suddenly appeared in front of her and floated there as if she held it with invisible hands. "Abbotts, Ashley."

A girl from several paces behind Alex in line squeaked nervously and then darted up the middle of the lines. It was the same frizzy red headed girl that Alex had noticed before. She tripped slightly on the second step up to the platform and small snickers could be heard from the Bakunawa table. A glare from their head of house had them quieted quickly. A blushing Ashley sat on the stool that the older woman gestured too.

"House!" The purple haired lady shouted making the frightened girl in the chair front of her jump. The unnamed woman clamped her hand down on Ashley's shoulder and closed her eyes. The girl shivered as silence descended upon the large room and everyone in the audience held their breath without realizing it. "Kelpie." The woman stated calmly as she dropped her hand back to her side. The third table over from the lines of incoming students cheered loudly and Ashley ran over to them.

"What just happened?" Alex whispered to Justin as Dr. Evilini called up another student. Justin grinned, eager to share his new knowledge.

"That's Professor Diotrephes," he began, making sure to keep his voice low. He'd never gotten in trouble at school before he wasn't about to start now. "She can see the future of whoever she touches. She narrows her viewing window by commanding to see only a certain portion of the person's future. According to WizTech: A History, she does it to respect the students' privacy."

"So she's sorting us into our houses?" Alex asked boiling the matter down. Justin nodded just as the boy on stage darted off to the second table. With this, Alex tuned the ceremony out. The ceiling was much more interesting. It was enchanted, or so the fourteen-year-old assumed, to look like a meadow. This, Alex thought, was a weird image to enchant on a ceiling, but it was still awesome to watch. The grass swayed in the non-existent wind and the brunette resisted the urge to sway along with it.

Minutes or perhaps hours later, Alex returned her attention to the ceremony. The line had grown a great deal shorter but was still a bit long and she'd managed to keep pace with the moving chain despite not paying attention. A light tap on her arm had Alex turning to face Justin. He tilted his head to ask if she was alright and she nodded yes and slowly shifted her eyes to the ceiling. Justin nodded and tapped his temple twice indicating that he knew something about it that he would tell her later and both returned their attention to the front.

"Michaels," Dr. Evilini declared. Justin's eyes grew wide suddenly and Alex worried that he'd freeze up in shock or something. She poked him in the arm hard and he shook his head breaking out of his sudden and temporary stupor. "Jacob." The imposing woman finished and both Alex and Justin froze. It couldn't be, could it? The young boy simply did not have enough of a grasp on magic to attend the school. Right? The boy passed them swiftly, no pause in his step, though he did grin at them in a way that sent chills through the pair. Justin and Alex turned to face each other simultaneously. This was bad news. They just knew it.

Still stunned, the two watched as the boy sat on the stool pompously. Alex noticed a very slight change in Dr. Evilini's expression, but let it pass. There was a bigger matter at hand. Professor Diotrephes stepped up behind him and commanded her power. She placed her fragile hand on his shoulder. A few second later she dropped her hand and whispered something to Justin's younger brother that no one else could hear before declaring, "Bakunawa."

"Of course," Justin scoffed lightly and suddenly Alex wished she'd paid more attention to the description of the houses. "I'll tell you later." The sixteen-year-old boy at her side whispered sensing her dilemma. Alex nodded slightly and waited with baited breath for him to be called.

"Michaels, Justin." Justin slipped out of the boys' line and into the space between the two lines easily. He grabbed Alex's hand and gave it a quick squeeze before continuing down to the front. He sat down, just like all those before him, and waited.

"House!" Professor Diotrephes declared once more. Her voice was becoming scratchy and weak with overuse. Alex felt a rush of sympathy for the woman who reminded her of her great grandmother, Gitana. Gitana had died when Alex was a mere six-years-old but the girl still remembered her a little. She had smelled of a mix of baby powder and overpowering perfume and she'd only been four foot nine inches tall and always looked as breakable as the woman on the platform. Alex shook her head. Now was not the time for a trip down memory lane.

"Garuda." She decisively stated and Justin sighed in relief. He turned to thank the woman, but stopped remember Dr. Evilini's words and continued down the steps toward the now cheering Garuda table. Once his feet hit the main floor again, he turned slightly to look at Alex. He felt this unexplainable pull to rejoin her, but knew he had to take a seat at his table. She gave him a-thumbs-up and smile thus making the decision for him and he took his spot with his new housemates.

People continued to be called up and lines continued to compensate for their absences. Soon enough, the extremely long list reached R and Alex almost snagged with relief. It felt like she'd been standing in line for four hours. Three people later and it was Alex's turn on stage. She took the designated seat and stared out at the crowd. There were a lot more people out there then she'd realized. She felt light headed and dizzy. She caught Justin's gaze and thought that she must look really bad off because he was watching her wearily. He looked prepared to jump up and catch her if she fainted.

"Calm yourself, child. It will be alright." Whispered the professor behind her and Alex took a deep calming breath. "House!" The hand laid on her shoulder felt like a brick of gold and Alex fought to remain upright on the stool. It seemed like days had passed before Professor Diotrephes removed her hand. "Alphyn." Alex gripped the edges of the stool and prepared to push off. "Be warned and weary, child. Evil is out to ruin your reality." With that ominous whisper from the future viewing professor caught in her head the brunette stumbled down the stairs. The second her feet hit the main floor she felt fine once more. Shaking it off, she started toward the cheering table and, with a small slightly sad smile at Justin, took her seat. They were separated once more.

* * *

**_A/N: _**Next chapter Alex and Justin get settled into WizTech.


	4. Chapter 4

**Title:** The Gold Echo

**Author Name**: TrueLoveFan

**Rating**: PG-13

**Warnings for**: None (for this chapter)

**Notes:**

- Ages: Anna and Jacob are now 14, Marie is 6, Justin is 16, Max is 13, and Alex is 14 about to be 15 in two months.

- The first name is the WizTech house name and second is their similar Hogswarts house.

Alphyn = Gryffindor

Bakunawa = Slytherin

Kelpie = Hufflepuff

Garuda = Ravenclaw

**Disclaimer**:

_**All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of TrueLoveFan. TrueLoveFan is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.**_

* * *

The next six days passed in a blur of new friends, new classes, and new surroundings. Justin and Alex barely saw each other except for brief moments in the dining hall when they locked eyes. There was no co-mingling among the houses except for certain classes which combined houses. They tried to find time for each other during their spare periods but something always seemed to come up. A 12-year-old Kelpie would ask Justin for help with his homework or one of Alex's new Alphyn friends would need her for some mindless task. Neither could turn down such requests and so they found themselves without time for each other. The two of them were adjusting well to the new path with their lives were on however.

Both their houses were decorated beautifully and were quite spacious. Alex's Alphyn girl dormitory alone held a minimum of 200 girls and it wasn't the least bit cramped. There was enough space for all of them to function without getting in each other's way, which was a valuable thing when it comes to having 200 girls in the same room. Justin's accommodations were very similar to Alex's.

They both managed to make friends in their houses. Not that there was any doubt, especially when it came to Alex the social butterfly, but their bonds were growing quickly as a result of their sudden independence. Raya, one of Alex's new friends, was a student who normally attended WizTech during the school year and was asked to stay over into the summer semester so that she could "greatly advance her abilities in Transfiguration." Alex liked her best of all her new friends because she, unlike most in their house, could sympathize with Alex's half-wizard, half-human plight. The other girl was 16 years old and had just-past-her-shoulders brunette hair, brown eyes, and a sense of style similar but not identical to Alex's own.

The two girls had met just after Alex's sorting. Raya, eager to meet new people, quickly squeezed in between Alex and whoever had been beside her previously. With a quick handshake and rapid fire questions from both sides, the two were quick and fast friends. The style of introduction may have been off-putting to most people it only endeared Raya to Alex more.

Justin, on the other hand, did not make instantaneous friends. It was not until his third day in WizTech that he met Ronald Longcape Jr. Their first meeting was less than stellar. Ronald had stormed into the Garuda common room complaining loudly that he been placed in the wrong house. For an hour Justin and the other new Garuda inductees listen to him rant and rave about how he truly belonged in Bakunawa house. Then, in a fit of total desperation thanks to his raging headache, the Garuda perfect, Stephen, told Ronald that if he was so upset with his house selection he could take it up with Headmaster Crumbs in the morning. Ronald didn't take to this advice well and started toward Stephen with malicious intent. Justin, unable to stand by and watch, intercepted the punch meant for Stephen. After he cooled down, which admittedly took a while and a walk around the castle, apologized to Stephen, for getting angry, and to Justin for punching him. His apology and subsequent actions to make up for it, though Justin assured him there was no need to do so, started a tenuous friendship between the two.

Their busy schedules and new friends distracted the two from missing each other during the day but at night there was nothing to prevent them from feeling it. Sleeping was increasingly difficult. Alex found herself spending most nights wide-awake her; body unable to rest without the feeling of Justin's arms around her. Justin found himself in a similar situation; wishing for the feeling of Alex curled up against his chest. As the days wore on their sleepless nights began to affect their performance at WizTech. The 14-year-old brunette female began to snap at friends and teachers without much justification. It had, unfortunately, landed her in detention twice and provided Alex with one pissed off acquaintance. The effects of the sleepless night on Justin were less obvious. His school work, those teachers at WizTech had little to base it upon, lacked its usual style of containing every detail about the subject and instead was simply the answers to questions asked. The papers were still 'A' papers, but they were a reason for concern as far as the professors at WizTech were concerned.

It was this concern towards the well-being of the two teens that had them standing in Headmaster Crumbs' office. Justin had arrived first and, thinking he'd done something wrong, he'd stood rim-rod straight hoping that somehow before he could correct what he done wrong and remain in school. Alex arrived next, unable to come up with any reason for the summons to the headmaster's office. She attempted to look cavalierly as she entered; as far as she knew she'd done nothing wrong and if, by some miracle, she had without knowing it she'd find some way to refute what they were saying so there was reasonable doubt as to her guilt.

She'd been as surprised to see him as he was to see her and without thought the two ended up in a desperate hug. Alex considered that perhaps she shouldn't feel like she hadn't seen Justin in months; perhaps she shouldn't have reacted so strongly to him being apart from her once more, but she could not help it. These past couple days have the distinct feeling of their time apart thanks to the Michael's and the brunette had been drowning in its return. Justin step back from the hug awkwardly. It was a reaction to the sudden loss of all he knew once more. Alex was his connection to all of it; a port in the storm. Or at least that's what Justin tried to convince himself of … it didn't work. The truth of the matter was he'd missed Alex just as much as she'd missed him.

"You look like hell," Alex informed Justin in that matter-of-factly way of hers. He truly did. He had dark bags under his and his face was just a tad sunken in. His hair was different too; she didn't know how to describe it but it was different. Alex acted on impulse again placed her hand on his cheek causing Justin to unconsciously lean into the touch and close his eyes. Alex's eyes widened slightly, but scarcely dared to breathe afraid to break this trance the two had entered into.

"I'd tell you the same, but after Theresa cried and made Jerry sleep on the couch for three days after a similar comment, I don't think I'll risk it." Justin whispered his eyes still closed. The fourteen-year-old chuckled, remembering how much her dad had griped and groaned about having a bad back and that the couch wasn't good for him the whole time when all he had to do was apologize but her was a stubborn guy and he'd refused to cave.

"Smart boy." Alex whispered back. The two drifted forward simultaneously until their foreheads were touching and the witch's eyes closed as well. She felt so much better knowing that he was right there. She sighed, truly content at last, and the light bulb hanging in the ceiling fixture, which was slightly left of their hands, burst. Instead of scampering away in fear as they had the first time it happened, the two simply ducked their heads and hoped that glass shards didn't get caught in their clothes or hair.

"I thought I was supposed to adjust to my new amount of powers by now. Why is that still happened?" Alex grumbled. Justin had grown used to his limited magic, which is not affected his spell casting in any way, within a few days. It'd been a couple months now and things were still exploding, floating, coming to life, etc. around the frustrated fourteen-year-old. It really wasn't fair. She barely just gotten used to how she was supposed to work her magic before, she had even been learning how to use it responsibly and doing so, and now she had to start all over again.

"It has Ms. Russo." Professors Crumbs replied from the doorway and Alex and Justin jumped apart. Their embrace had been innocent but could easily be misconstrued. They did not want the headmaster to think something that wasn't true. The bearded man chuckled and walked around them to take his seat behind his desk. "No need to part on my account. I've seen people cuddle before. Merlin, I have cuddled before."

Alex couldn't help but look a brief consternation that crossed her face at the thought. Why oh why did adults have to provide too much information anything she didn't want to know? Was it in some rule book she had never read or something? Then she realized what he had implied what that statement and she sputtered a response. "I-I-We weren't cuddling!" Out of the corner of her eye, the brunette saw her companion nodding furiously in agreement.

"Sure, Ms. Russo, you and Mr. Michaels weren't cuddling and this beard is real." The older man's tone made it clear that he was teasing as he tugged on his beard.

"It's not?" Justin asked. The headmaster chuckled again and pulled the graybeard off unceremoniously.

"Of course not." Justin cocked his head to the side. Wonder, only Justin, could find in learning such a simple and unnecessary thing.

"Then why do you wear it?" Alex inquired looking at the fake beard in disgust. "Beards are so… last month." Fashion was Alex's thing; the one topic she was always certain of. Last year her dad had discussed with Justin, Max, and herself about the necessity of a backup plan for if they didn't become the family wizard. After an admittedly short period the fourteen-year-old, at the time, had decided she would become a fashion designer. It took a little convincing but her daddy finally agreed it was a decent backup plan. A plan which she no longer needed (Nor Justin and Max theirs), but one she would keep anyway. If there was anything this magic disaster had taught her it was that magic wasn't something to rely solely upon but rather a tool.

"Because I like it." WizTech's headmaster shrugged and replaced the beard on his face. "It itches a little, though." The elder man admitted with a child-like grin. Alex smiled too, despite herself, and even Justin grinned a little. Professor Crumbs shook his head slightly. "Now, as to why you two are here," Alex tensed a little. Here comes the reprimand; here comes the part where she gets thrown out of WizTech.

"There are two reasons actually. I have decided to assist you two in dealing with your respective amounts of magic." The look of astonishment on Justin's face, which she caught the sight as his jaw dropped slightly, confused her. Professor Crumbs was headmaster. Had to have done private touring such as that which he was offering them before…hadn't he? She filed Justin's expression away in her mind determined to question him on his astonishment at a more appropriate time. "Do Thursdays work for you two?"

Alex nodded a little. Yeah, Thursdays were fine. It's not like she had an afterschool clubs or anything to get to. That was something she'd found surprising about the grand wizards school; there was nothing to do at the end of the school. She'd just have to make sure to stay out of detention and avoid agreeing to help Raya out with any details plans on Thursdays.

"Great!" The headmaster exclaimed eagerly as a floating feather scribbled something onto the large desk calendar in front of Professor Crumbs and then settled itself back into its original position. Magic was so…magical sometimes. She had to admit that sometimes the simplest of magical spells and objects made her feel so special; there were humans out there who wished and dreamed of things she knew and experienced.

"Now, for the last thing and perhaps most important, your teachers have come to me expressing concern for you wellbeing. They say that over the past few days they have notice a, slight, decrease in productivity from both of you and that you always seem "out of it" as they so elegantly put it. Professor Diotrephes believes lack of sleep to be the cause." Alex and Justin turned to look at each other at the same time. How did they go about explaining that they could not sleep without each other? How did they inform an adult they trust, but barely knew, that the only times they'd managed sleep was when their bodies were simply too exhausted to continue to function?

"Well," Justin started but the headmaster cut him off.

"It's the magic transference, isn't it? There are always side effects of course, but this is an admittedly rare one."

"This, sir?"

"The inability to sleep without the other next to you." The gray haired man stated and the two teens were a little startled. Seeing this on their faces he proceeded to explain. "Professor Diotrephes is never wrong." He got out from behind his desk and walked over to a stand on the left side of the room. He picked up the wand that lay cautiously in its place and waved it several times in the air muttering spells into the air. "There. That should do it."

"Do what?" Alex questioned. Professor Crumbs was very sporadic and confusing.

"I cast a spell on your beds so that once you climb in and close the curtains you'll be in the same bed together." The elder man placed his wand back down and calmly took his seat once more. Alex's eyes widened a little. Surely, that broke some rule or something? The school couldn't possibly condone such things.

"One, you must not tell anyone of this or we could all be in a boat load of trouble. Two, no inappropriate behavior." Justin sputtered as soon as the words registered. He would never…they would never…Alex was a lady and Justin a gentleman…he respected both of them too much to even consider that. Besides, they were only…something higher then friends but not boyfriend and girlfriend. "Three, when you get out of bed in the morning you MUST get out on the same side you got in. If not, you'll end up stepping out into the wrong dormitory and then we would all end up in the aforementioned trouble."

With that the two stunned teens were dismissed and silently started back toward their dormitories. Both halted at the junction between the Alphyn and Garuda. The simply stood together silently for a few seconds before Justin pulled her in for another hug, quicker this time, but just as meaningful. "I'll see you tonight?" Alex whispered as they pulled apart.

Justin quirked an eyebrow and said, "Apparently." With that the two separated with Alex's laughter trailing behind her.

--

The Alphyn common room was buzzing with after dinner activities when Alex strolled in. The boys were huddled around the coffee table in front of the unused fireplace watching someone beating Marcus, the Alphyn's best Wizards chess player. Alex giggled as she slid into the crowd and up to Marcus' winning opponent. She knelt down beside the person. "What are you doing?"

"Playing Wizards chess." Raya answered nonchalantly shrugging her shoulders casually. Her attitude was the exact opposite of her competition. Marcus was sweating bullets as he examined the board closely looking for some way to win. Raya spun to face her completely abandon the pretense of caring about the game.

"I see that. Why though?" Raya tilted her head to the side slightly and gave Alex that disbelieving eyebrow raise she was used to from everyone in her life.

"Gee, I don't know, Alex. After I was ditching in the middle of the after dinner rush by my newest best friend, I had to find something to do with my time." Alex grinned at the best friend comment and that grin quickly turned into a frown. She hadn't meant to ditch Raya. She hadn't even planned to do anything but hang out with the other girl, but one doesn't ignore a summons to the headmaster's office. Through her arms wide she wrapped them around the other girl and pleaded overdramatically.

"Please forgive me, Raya." The sixteen-year-old laughed and patted Alex's arms gently.

"Oh, alright." She conceded. "Only if you tell me where you rushed off to." Alex opened her mouth to respond and then remembered all the people surrounding them. She didn't want everyone to know about her meeting with Justin and the headmaster or about her magical rejection, which she would need to explain to Raya first.

"Not here; not now." She replied unwrapping her arms from her friend. The other half-human half-wizard girl frowned a little and then stood quickly.

"I concede defeat." She declared loudly over the din of the gathered crowd, who proceeded to groan they had been waiting for someone to finally beat Marcus forever and now the one person who seemed capable of it was quitting, as Marcus' king proceeded to smash all her remaining chess pieces to bits. Marcus grinned and began bragging to his friends about he knew she would forfeit. Alex resisted the urge to say anything to the stuck-up seventh year. It would only cause problems.

Raya grabbed Alex's elbow and dragged the girl upstairs to their dormitory and the two quickly sat down Raya's bed. They drew the curtains closed so that silencing spell o them would keep any of their ridiculously nosy roommates from overhearing anything. "Explain." Raya demanded gently and Alex told her everything. About how she and Justin used to think themselves siblings, about the cruelty of the Michaels', about the torture that was their time apart, about the magical rejection, about the chaos created by her new overloaded magic, about Justin, Anna, and Marie moving in, about her confusion concerning Justin, about her and Justin's singular kiss, about accepting their WizTech invites and getting separated again, and about her meeting with Justin and headmaster Crumbs after dinner. The only thing she didn't tell Raya about was the enchanted bed.

When her tale was finished Alex casted a cautious glance over at her friend. The brunette was staring openmouthed and wide-eyed. She muttered a single word, "Wow."

* * *

**A/N:** I bet you all know who I cast (celebrity-wise) as Raya, don't you? *giggles* I know you all are about ready to kill for taking so long with this and for that I am truly sorry, but my thoughts work in werid ways.


	5. Chapter 5

**Title:** The Gold Echo

**Author Name**: TrueLoveFan

**Rating**: PG-13

**Warnings for**: None (for this chapter)

**Notes:**

- Ages: Anna and Jacob are now 14, Marie is 6, Justin is 16, Max is 13, and Alex is 14 about to be 15 in two months.

- The first name is the WizTech house name and second is their similar Hogswarts house.

Alphyn = Gryffindor

Bakunawa = Slytherin

Kelpie = Hufflepuff

Garuda = Ravenclaw

**Disclaimer**:

_**All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of TrueLoveFan. TrueLoveFan is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.**_

* * *

"Goodnight, Al." Raya whispered as she pulled open her red and gold bed curtains to reveal her dark blue comforter with silver stars. WizTech expressly forbid any alterations to anything the public could view…they said nothing about the bed dressings that most never saw. "You sure you don't want one of my sleep potions? I can make you one in like two minutes."

Alex smiled at her friend's genuine concern and gave the other girl a quick hug. "I'll be fine. Professor Crumbs found a solution to my sleeping problems." Her eyes slid to the closed bed curtains slightly to her left. Would it be her bed behind them or Justin's? Would she be the first one in or would Justin already be there? The thought of him waiting behind the heavy drapery caused a harsh fluttering in her stomach; her curtain started rustling. She stomped on her butterflies harshly and the rustling stopped. Alex reasoned her fluttery feelings to the fact she was finally going to get some serious sleep. That was it…honestly. It had been far too long. "I'm hoping to do some decent sleeping tonight."

"Then it's a good thing we have no classes tomorrow. Do you want me to wake you for breakfast? You know, in case, you are close to sleeping through it." Raya picked her small vial off the nightstand and pulled the cork free. The blue mist rose and vanished into the air just as the sixteen-year-old Alphyn tipped it and swallowed all of its contents in one sip. Alex cringed as she watched. She'd taken Raya up on her offer on a sleeping potion once; it had tasted so horrible she'd never used it again even if it had granted her an hour's rest.

"Umm…no; just, if I'm not up an hour before we are supposed to go to Wizards Way just…um…shout for me through the curtain… okay? Don't open them." Alex stumbled over her words and Raya raised an eyebrow at her best friend's weirdness but said nothing. Their conversation earlier had explained a great deal about her two-years-younger housemate. She had her reasons for keeping secrets. Raya wouldn't pry…at least, not tonight.

"Okay." Slipping off her slippers, Raya swung her body so she was lying on her bed. "Goodnight, young one." Her curtains slid closed as the older half-blood wizard used wand-less and wordless magic to do so.

"I'm not that much younger then you." Alex grumbled to herself knowing full well that Raya would not hear her. The sixteen-year-old liked utter silence while she slept and so she cast a double sided silence charm on her curtains: no sound in, no sound out. The first couple of nights, Alex had wondered what the other girl needed the no sound out part for. She'd grown concerned that perhaps her new friend was doing something irresponsible. The day after the thought occurred to her she asked Raya about it. The taller brunette laughed at her and said that she only cast that half because she was a loud sleep talker and her dorm-mates tended to hate her in the mornings if she didn't.

The fifteen-year-old turned to face her closed curtains and then without any big to-do over it climbed in. Justin was sitting on the right side of the bed, propped up against the headboard, reading a book by wandlight. Alex settled on her side of the bed propped up against the headboard and looked down at the space between them. Her bed had been a twin last night, heck, judging by the size as she stood beside it, it had been one right before she slipped in the curtains. Now, though, it looked to be about a queen size bed.

"You Garudas get queen-sized beds? That's so not fair." Alex grumbled slightly crossing her arms over her chest; her face pulled into her signature pout. Justin turned his head and looked at her with his patent be-patient-Alex-can't-help-being-herself look. His gaze dropped for a millisecond down to her pouty lips before returning to look in her eyes, but it was long enough to kick start her butterflies again. The curtains resumed their rustling and Alex cursed the fact her supposed-to-be-hidden emotions kept being displayed. She focused on calming herself, stopping the movement, before resuming her pouting.

"This isn't my bed. It's yours." He set his book down at his feet and explained slowly as if his companion wouldn't understand his words if he spoke any faster. Alex huffed and tucked her hair behind her ears.

"This isn't my bed, Justin. Don't you think if it was I would have known?" Justin got his patent curious look on his face before shaking off his thoughts and focusing back on the girl beside him; the girl he hadn't spent any considerable time with in what seemed like an eternity. He wanted to ask her about her week or maybe even just the rest of her evening but he couldn't seem to open his mouth. His wand light was making her look ethereal in a way and it was quite a captivating sight.

Alex wanted to say something. She hadn't seen Justin in six days, not counting the brief meeting with Professor Crumbs earlier, and she had so much she wanted to ask and tell him. Her body had different plans, however. She'd gone much too long without sleep and it was creeping up on her consciousness quickly.

A loud yawn escaped her mouth and broke Justin from his stupidity stupor. He reached across her and yanked the covers down to her feet and then pulled them up over her. He was exhausted too and, now that Alex was beside him, he was really feeling the weight of those sleepless nights. He pulled his side of the comforters down as well so he could slide underneath them.

"Just-"

"Just go to sleep, Alex. We'll talk tomorrow. In Wizards Way?" Justin had been hoping to get a moment to ask Alex if she wanted to go with him, as friends of course he didn't want to make her run the other way, for awhile now.

"Mmm…Sure. Should be fun." Alex murmured voice heavy with the sleep she was on the edge of falling into.

"Okay…cool." Justin replied just as Alex fall off the cliff of consciousness and into her dreamland. Without thinking about it, Justin wrapped an arm around his favorite girl and joined her in the place of sleep. Tomorrow would be…wonderful.

* * *

**A/N:** A shamefully short chapter, I know, but I wanted to get you all a chapter in celebration of the utterly wonderfulness (and Jalexness) of the Wizards movie. In compensation for this shortness, you will be getting another chapter tomorrow (today?).

Also, Wizards Way is (my) Wizards version of Hogsmead...just in case anyone was confused.


	6. Chapter 6

**Title:** The Gold Echo

**Author Name**: TrueLoveFan

**Rating**: PG-13

**Warnings for**: None (for this chapter)

**Notes:**

- Ages: Anna and Jacob are now 14, Marie is 6, Justin is 16, Max is 13, and Alex is 14 about to be 15 in two months.

- The first name is the WizTech house name and second is their similar Hogswarts house.

Alphyn = Gryffindor

Bakunawa = Slytherin

Kelpie = Hufflepuff

Garuda = Ravenclaw

- Italics is a dream.

**Disclaimer**:

_**All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of TrueLoveFan. TrueLoveFan is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.**_

* * *

"Alex," _The whisper was light almost tentative but very welcome. It blended seamlessly into her dream world making it all the more wonderful. She snuggled closer to the sun warmed body underneath hers. His arms tightened around instinctively and she bit back a happy giggle. Alex Russo did not giggle ever, no matter how deliriously happy she was. The transition they went through hadn't been easy, but the end result was so worth it. _

"Alex, you need to wake up now." _Confused, she titled her face up to look at him. She shielded her eyes with her right hand so she could make out his features._

_"What are you talking about Justin? I am awake." He smiled lightly and ran his hand through her hair slowly._

"Don't make me do it." _What was going on? That was Justin's voice, she was sure of it, but his mouth hadn't moved. A sigh and then suddenly her sides tickled and she burst into laughter._

"Just-Justin stop. Stop!" The fourteen-year-old got out between bouts of laughter as Justin's fingers attacked her sides nimbly. Justin grinned as she squirmed under his hands.

"No. Not until you tell me that I'm the best at…everything." He declared his left hand switching between tickling her fast and slow making her laughter hitch at every change. She tried to escape the torture but he was leaning over her making it impossible.

"B-B-But you don-" His attacks got faster and she gave up trying to talk him out of making her declare things. "You're the best at," A loud burst of laughter escaped her lips as he tickled the sensitive skin just above her elbow. "Ev-everything, Justin." He grinned triumphantly hat her before getting back on his side of the bed.

"What was that?" The brunette asked breathlessly as she turned on her side to face her tickle monster.

"You refused to wake up." He declared with a shrug of his shoulders. "Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, you know, and they stop serving it in an hour."

"An hour! Justin!" She shoved her head back in her pillow and said. "Wake me up in a half an hour…and not like that!" Justin sighed and yanked the pillow out from under her.

"We both know it takes you an half an hour minimum to get ready. If you sleep another thirty minutes you won't get any breakfast. That's not healthy." He informed her slowly holding her pillow out of her sleepy reach. With his free hand he prodded her shoulder until she sat up on the bed.

"You know me too well." She grumbled slipping on her slippers before disappearing through her side of the curtains.

"Why does everything you do surprise me then?" Justin whispered as he placed her pillow back on her side, made the bed perfectly, and slipped on his slippers on as well before entering the Garuda boys' dorm through his side of the curtains.

* * *

The Great Hall was filled with chatter as Alex entered half an hour later. Most of the students were done eating already and eager to discuss the plans for today's Wizards Way trip. The one-month-and-three-weeks-shy-of-being-fifteen-year-old girl shot Raya a grateful smile as the other halfblood wizard squished down to make room. Alex sat on the offered bench spot and quickly began placing food on her magic-provided plate. The girl on Raya's other side glared at Alex as the late riser munched on a piece of toast. Alex glared right back until the twelve-year-old turned her attention elsewhere.

"I thought you weren't having breakfast this morning." Raya question as she refilled her glass with orange juice. She tipped the pitcher toward her friend slightly and handed it off to her at Alex's nod.

"Apparently, it's unhealthy to miss breakfast." Alex shrugged as she watched the orange liquid pour into her cup. She placed the pitcher down on the red oak table carefully not wanting to spill it again. People had been so pissed last time that it was a good thing she hadn't been sleeping or she might've woken up with something dead in her bed.

"Apparently?"

"Um…yeah, you know, that's like the only thing I learned in health class." Alex stuffed a spoonful of scrambled eggs into her mouth to keep from saying anything further. The skin between Raya's eyes crinkled indicating her confusion and Alex gulped. She used to be so good at lying. People had come to her for advice on how to lie once upon a time. Lately, though, it seemed she lost her touch.

"What's health class?" Raya asked with a slight head tilt and Alex breathed a small sigh of relief. Raya had never been to a mortal school having been taught at home by her father until she was eleven and thus old enough by magical law to attend WizTech.

"It's a class in middle and high school in the mortal realm where they teach us about food and health and our bodies and sex. That was the most horrible lesson to sit through. Our teacher was about seventy-years-old and she's talking about pleasure and using bananas as examples." Alex's shivered at the utter horror at the memory. The talk with her mother three days later was less mortifying.

"But don't you just use the contraception spell? It's no big deal; it is two waves of a wand and three Latin words." Alex blushed slightly. This was not the conversation to be having over breakfast or ever.

"You can do that if you know it and mortal students…well they don't know it."

"But you know it, don't you?"

"Know what?" Alex clamped her hand over Raya's mouth quickly to stop her from answering Justin's question and turned to face him slightly.

"How to ice fish." The embarrassed brunette blurted out quickly. She dropped her hand from her friend's mouth and answered her question. "Which no, I don't, but I shouldn't need to for a very long time."

"Okay," Justin replied slowly not believing Alex's explanation but he didn't push. "You ready to go?" He asked laying a hand on her shoulder. She nodded and jumped out of her seat eager to get away from this extremely awkward conversation.

"Are we still meeting for lunch at The Cat's Eye?" Raya asked standing as well and brandishing her wand. She was late for a date with a black haired, chocolate eyed young man from Kelpie who she happily called her boyfriend. She'd felt bad leaving Alex to her own devices in Wards Way, but it probably would've ruined the other's first experience of the quaint wizard town to be the third wheel. The guilty feeling in her stomach eased knowing that her new best friend would be just fine. Heck, she'd probably have a better time with the boy standing next to her then she would with Raya anyway. "If it's alright you, of course…"She trailed off not knowing the name of the young man who had probably saved her bunk neighbor from a day of lonely meandering.

"Sounds fine with me. I'm supposed meet my friend Ronald there at lunchtime anyway. We could all eat together or something." Justin replied.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I forgot you two have never met." Alex mentally slapped herself forgetting that, but she'd just spent two hours the previous night talking all about him pretty much so, to her, it felt like Raya already knew Justin. "Raya, this is Justin. Justin, this is my new BFF, Raya." The two politely greeted each other and then Raya transported herself away to meet her boyfriend, Gabriel.

"New BFF?" Justin asked quietly as they removed their wands from their hiding places. Alex flinched.

"I don't want to talk about it." She replied calmly. "Wizards Way town square?"

Justin nodded. "Seems to be where everyone else is going." Then with identical wand motions and the same words the two vanished from the Great Hall.

* * *

Wizards Way was beautiful with its cobblestone roads and old houses. Some of the buildings lining the main road had been turned into shops that held all sorts of magic-related items from "important things" like textbooks and a wand shop to not-so-important things like a candy store and clothes boutique. Neither Alex or Justin ventured in the stores; one, they didn't have enough money and two, they'd much rather avoid the hustle and bustle of the crowds and spend time with each other. So they'd walked a good distance from the picturesque town and climbed up a hill to sit under a lovely tree.

The two talked for three hours about various things; how Alex met Raya and how they came to be BFFs, who was Ronald and how had he and Justin met, how school was going, and comparing notes on the letters they received from family members back on Waverly Place.

"Max really wrote that?" The astonishment in Alex's voice was clear. Her little brother writing of mature things like admiration, love, and fear of rejection. It seemed too soon to Alex. He was only thirteen. Who was she to judge though? She'd crushed on a boy for the first time at age six. But, Alex argued in her mind, that was different; that had been the crush of a little girl minor and fleeting. According to Justin, Max sounded completely serious and head-over-heels. Alex had heard nothing about this in Max's letter to her and she couldn't help but feel a little hurt by that. She was his big sister; wasn't he supposed to be asking her what the girl was thinking about him?

"Yup. I was stunned."

"So…what did you tell him?" Alex bounced a little in her seat. Despite Max's young age, she was excited for her little brother. Love in all its forms was exhilarating, but that head-over-heels-floating-on-clouds feeling was the most addicting kind…not that Alex would know…or did she? She sure felt float-y right there in the moment but the confusion and worry mixing in was making her feel all jumbled up.

"I told him to wait it out. Continue to just be friends with his mystery girl for a while. Friendship is always the most solid base for a good relationship, you know? This will give him time to make absolutely certain he has labeled his feelings correctly. He's never had a crush before so what if he's mistaking this crush feeling as his "happy ever after"?"

Good solid advice, but the fourteen-year-old had to wonder how Justin, for all his smarts, could miss the obvious…because even Marie saw it. Max had been talking about Anna in his letter to Justin. Not naming her had been a good move on Max's part because chances were good Justin wouldn't have given Max any unbiased advice if he had known his younger sister was the object of his former brother's affections.

Alex briefly of informing her companion that Anna had written Alex a much similar letter but decided against it. That was something those two got to tell the dense sixteen-year-old. The fourteen-year-old Michaels' daughter had pleaded with her only girl friend for advice on how to handle Max and her growing feelings for him. Alex'd given it more thought then she tended to give things that didn't involve her before writing her old roommate back and telling her pretty much the same thing Justin had told Max.

"I miss them, Justin." Alex sighed setting her head on his shoulder gently letting the warm breeze circle around them as the sun's rays flittered through the canopy of leafs above them. "I mean, I like it here and all but home…is home."

"I know, Alex. Home is where the heart is, after all."

Alex literally had to bite on her tongue to hold in the "Then my home is where you are." that tried to exit her mouth automatically at his response. Justin was in her heart that was a fact, but she wasn't prepared to make such a declaration yet, she needed more time to make certain, and, even if she was one hundred percent certain, Justin certainly wasn't.

"Come on," Justin proclaimed after a few seconds of silence fell upon them. "We're supposed to meet up with Raya, Ronald and…"

"Gabriel," Alex inserted helpfully as she grabbed Justin's offered hand and pulled herself up.

"Right, Gabriel, at The Cat's Eye in about fifteen minutes."

"Justin!" She exclaimed stubbornly as he started pulling her toward the town in the distance. "That's like a half an hour hike and you know we aren't allowed to transport around Wizards Way. We'll never make it."

"We will…if we run." Her raven-haired friend said and, with that, the two took off toward the small town running as fast as their legs would carry them laughing their heads off.

* * *

**A/N:** Another, longer, chapter as promised! Hope you like it! Yes, just as with Raya, I had a specfic celeb in mind when I cast Gabriel (who will be featured in the next chapter as well as some other side characters who are important). Can you guess who? *giggles* See you all next chapter!


	7. Chapter 7

**Title:** The Gold Echo

**Author Name**: TrueLoveFan

**Rating**: PG-13

**Warnings for**: None (for this chapter)

**Notes:**

- Ages: Anna and Jacob are now 14, Marie is 6, Justin is 16, Max is 13, and Alex is 14 about to be 15 in two months.

- The first name is the WizTech house name and second is their similar Hogswarts house.

Alphyn = Gryffindor

Bakunawa = Slytherin

Kelpie = Hufflepuff

Garuda = Ravenclaw

- Italics is a dream.

**Disclaimer**:

_**All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of TrueLoveFan. TrueLoveFan is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.**_

* * *

"No fair!" Alex exclaimed as she entered The Cat's Eye. The two were literally just in time to make their lunch date with Raya, Ronald, and Gabriel. "You totally cheated, Justin!"

"I did not." The elder replied as he glanced distractedly around the busy tavern for any sign of the Raya or Ronald. The whole school, it seemed, had the same idea as their little group had because the lowly lit building was packed with enough black Wizard robes to make it feel like they were back at WizTech.

"I see her!"

"I see him!"

Alex and Justin exclaimed at the same time pointing in opposite directions of the room. Justin turned and followed the general direction of Alex's finger. He could just barely make out the top of Raya's head through the bustle of the crowd.

"You go join Raya and Gabriel and I'll go get Ronald and find you over there." The young man instructed before pushing through the crowd to make it to the table where his best guy friend was located. Ronald was seated at the table surrounded by girls from the other three houses. He seemed to be enjoying himself and Justin loathed interrupting but he had to. In the small span of time Justin had known Ronald, he had noticed the fact that when Ronald was near a girl who wasn't in their house (all the Garuda girls hated him) he tended to lose track of time. If Justin waited for a good time to intercede, he'd spend his whole life waiting.

"Ronald?" Justin spoke louder than usual to be heard over all the giggling coming from the various girls. The blonde didn't hear him however; he was much too busy basking in the attention being lavished on him.

For a moment, Justin felt a fleeting rush of fear. What if Alex went all giggly over Ronald too? It wouldn't be the first time it had happened to her. In fact, it was kind of a common occurrence for her. Prior to all the biology stuff, it had seemed like each week Alex fell "in love" with a different guy. Why would it be any different with Ronald? It wasn't like there wasn't something about Justin's guy friend to like because, if the crowd of girls was anything to judge by, there was certainly something.

Justin dropped his hands to his stomach. Why did the thought of Alex and Ronald together cause him physical pain? It shouldn't. Ronald was a good guy as far as Justin could tell and Alex was smart young woman now quite capable of making decent decisions. If they wanted to date, he should have no qualms about it. So, why did he want to punch Ronald in the face? Especially since the other young man hadn't even met Alex yet. None of it made sense, but things hadn't made sense in quite awhile.

"Ronald!" He shouted tired of being polite when it was getting him nothing. Several of the girls at the table jumped and Ronald whipped his head toward Justin so fast there was a faint popping noise as the bones in his neck moved. "Sorry to interrupt," Justin continued on social acceptable level now that he had his friend's attention. "I just wanted invite to join me and a couple of friends of mine from Alphyn and…um…Kelpie, I believe, for lunch."

Ronald took a moment to consider it and then stood from his table ignoring the quiet pleading to remain there. "Why not?" He asked rhetorically. "I'm always up for meeting new people."

Justin led the way across the room with a sense of determination. Who knew how long it would be before he'd get to share a meal with Alex again? It was things like meal sharing and television watching that he missed most. That was always the way of it though, right? It was always the little things.

The booth was full when Ronald and Justin arrived at the table. Alex was seated on the right side of the table sipping from a tall, frothy glass and talking happily with Raya. The elder girl was seated on left side of the table across from her fellow Alphyn. She was twirling a small slim stick in between the index and middle fingers of her left hand and her right hand was intertwined with the other occupant of her side of the table. Gabriel, or who Justin assumed was Gabriel, was paying careful attention to the conversation going on at the table. Chances were good, if he knew Alex…and he did, that the topic of conversation was probably not very interesting.

Justin slid into the booth next to Alex and Ronald grabbed a chair from a just vacated table nearby and sat on the open end of the booth. Alex wrapped up the current conversation faster then he would have thought her capable of a couple months ago and passed her frothy drink to him. Justin hastily took a small sip; Alex's favorite drinks tended to be a little too fruity for his tastes but he'd try anything once. It was surprisingly good and he took a longer sip. Alex snatched the glass from him when he let go of the straw.

"Jeez, Justin! You drank half of it. You're sharing yours." She held her drink to her chest like it was a frightened child. He looked at the glass…oh, he had.

"I didn't order one."

"I ordered it for you after I got settled." Now the guilt tripled, Justin tried to deflect the situation a little.

"Should we do introductions?"

"Sure. This is Raya," Alex said gesturing to the girl across from her. The brunette smiled and nodded cheerfully to her newest tablemates. "and that would be Gabriel next to her." The young man held his hand out to Justin and Ronald with the politeness that seemed inherient in all Kelpies. He smiled as he shook Justin's hand and Raya downright giggled from beside her boyfriend at this simple action. Justin just chalked it up to girls being utterly confusing and sat back. Gabriel shook his head lightly as the handshake was broken and then turned to offer his hand to Ronald.

The blonde accepted the gesture easily enough and shook the brunette's hand firmly. Gabriel frowned and as soon as the up and down motion was through yanked his hand away. Raya made a disgruntled noise and grasped her boyfriend's hand in her own. Alex frowned lightly and looked at Ronald over Justin's shoulder. Girls were defiantly weird.

"It's nice to meet you both," Justin stated just to break the tension.

"You as well." Gabriel replied his voice tight with emotion. Ronald jabbed his fellow Garuda in the side. Justin flinched, his friend's jabs were always just a little too hard, but got the hint.

"This is Ronald." Raya nodded her acknowledgment and Gabriel followed her example. Both of them lacked enthusiasm. Alex was cordial enough, but nowhere near her normal enthusiasm when meeting new people. Justin was lost. He'd known her his whole life, thanks primarily to fate or what have you; he knew her better then himself so why was he couldn't he understand her reactions?

Alex wasn't a fan of forced inclusion. She abhorred when teachers forced two people to work together on a semester long project that obviously did not know each other and would never be friends. She hated the fake friendships that came from joining clubs and organizations. Justin had been on one too many of her rants about how those friendships never lasted. She was, however, one of those people who enjoyed meeting new people. He thought it was a mission of hers to expand her social circle enough to make the popular kids look like loners but he could never actually prove that. Thus, she should be attempting to charm Ronald into being her friend a little. Sure, she didn't have her "life-long enemy" Gigi to beat out here, but that shouldn't have stopped her. Her reaction bore all the indicators of an Alex who was trying to stealthy escape a bad situation.

No one introduced Justin, but he figured the likelihood of the necessity being slim. Raya already knew who was which, if he could hazard a guess from the little while he's known her, means that Gabriel already knows about him and can figure it out for himself. After the introductions, the cold fades away from the table slowly but surely and soon, they find themselves all laughing over something Gabriel said. The dark-haired Kelpie quite the riot once he started talking. He and Raya were obviously a perfect match and Justin just knew that one day they would get the fairytale happy ending. Perhaps it was their utter togetherness that kept Justin's womanizing friend from hitting on Raya…or perhaps it was the fact that taller girl mentioned three times that she knew three different types of fighting skills. Whatever it was Justin couldn't help but wish it would keep Ronald from hitting on Alex too.

It wasn't anything overtly obvious like pickup lines but Justin had seen Ronald pick up many a girl since starting at WizTech. He knew how the blonde operated. The good news that apparently Alex could see Ronald's attempts for what they were as well and was fending them off with ease. Still Justin couldn't help but feeling what he used to when guys were clearly bugging the younger witch. His old brotherly, or maybe that was not what they were, instincts were kicking up. They wanted him to get rid of Ronald. No one had the right to make Alex feel uncomfortable. His brain kept him from acting on his instincts, though.

Ronald was his only friend in Garuda. If he ditched him, he'd have no one to talk too in his own house and Justin didn't deal too well with loneliness. Plus, he didn't want anyone to think he was getting rid of the other boy because he saw him as competition…because there was no reason for competition. Alex was free to see whom she pleased and Justin had no claim over her.

Sure, they kissed once and yes that left them on unlabeled ground, but Justin could do nothing about it…not that knew what he would do, but any major decisions would have to come from Alex. She was the younger of the two and he would not in any way influence her. They had all been through such a roll coaster recently; he didn't want her to make any decisions out of some misguided fear. Justin could still see it in her eyes every time they separated; she was scared that every "see you later" would wind up being another "goodbye" from him. Nor did he want her to choice him simply because she felt some obligation to do so. She was in no state to make any changes and he was in no place to do so. They would just have to ride out life's journey and see where it took them.

"It's almost time to get back to WizTech." Raya interjected at the end of one of Alex's tales of magic mishaps that she and Justin had been through. Ronald bid everyone a hasty goodbye and ran outside to magic himself back to the school. No one really paid him any mind. The four friends, both new and old, stood sadly by their table. Their drinks and food had long since been paid for and there was nothing keeping them in The Cat's Eye as everyone emptied out. Yet all were reluctant to leave.

"It was nice to meet you, Justin." Gabriel said and held out his hand again for another shake.

"It was a pleasure meeting you, Gabriel." Justin replied accepting the goodbye shake for what it was. Raya dropped her boyfriend's hand long enough to wrap him in a hug. It was weird because he hadn't known long, but hey a free hug was a free hug.

"I'm certain I'll be seeing more of you Justin, but just in case I don't, it was fun getting to know you."

"Thanks, Raya. It was great getting to know you as well. It's good to know someone is watching over Alex when I can't be around." Alex stuck her tongue at him for that comment. She didn't need anyone to watch over her...anymore. Raya and Gabriel left The Cat's Eye headed off to the transport allowance line surrounding Wizards Way. It was only from that line and beyond that student witches and wizards could use magic to get back to WizTech. It was an annoyance for the students, but it also prevented any of the other members of the wizarding world from just transporting into the school at any given moment for any purpose.

Alex and Justin were one of the last sets of people to leave The Cat's Eye. There wasn't another trip to Wizards Way scheduled for three months and they had no classes together. This was their last chance to have any significant amount of time together for a few weeks; both were feeling a certain degree of separation anxiety. The walk back was slow, but hot. Even the wizarding world couldn't escape the summer heat.

"Justin?"

"Mmm-hmm?"

Alex slipped her hand into his without another word. She had always felt that actions spoke louder than words especially when it came to Justin. He could always read her in ways that no one else could; she could trust him to take this for what it was; a reluctance to let go. Justin looked down at their joined hands for a few seconds before smiling and nodding to his companion. For the past few weeks he'd been worrying about labels and boxes of where he and Alex fit together when it didn't matter now he realized. As long as Justin and Alex were together, in what capacity they were together was not important.

They were almost to the allowance line when someone stepped into their path the twilight sun as this person's backdrop. It didn't take more than one word for the two young wizards to identify the mysterious obstruction. "Justin."

"Jacob." Justin was wary of his younger brother given their last encounter. The eldest Michaels boy couldn't really blame Jacob for his reaction though. He remembered how much it had hurt to lose Alex when he'd found out the truth so he knew at least a little bit of the pain the youngest Michaels male must feel though he imagined that losing a twin would be even harder.

"What are you doing here?" The question burst from Alex's mouth like most of her inquires: without thought. Jacob turned to look at her and, though his eyes were similar to Justin's, they held none of his warmth or compassion in them. It creped her out a little to be honest. The shorter boy smiled at her in a way that did not match his angry stance; it was probably meant to look kind, it just looked twisted.

"You must be Alexandra," Jacob stepped up to her and held out his hand. Alex just eyed it suspiciously.

"It's Alex." She corrected with enough ice and snip to freeze the Antarctic over again. She would not be polite to the boy who made Justin's life hell. Jacob just dropped his offered hand and shrugged.

"It's a pleasure." He looked over slowly as if trying to see something in her body language or on her that wasn't obvious. This made Justin nervous; he watched the Discovery Channel he knew that look…it was the look a predator gave its prey. "I've heard _so much_ about you."

Alex merely straightened her back and stared down the fourteen-year-old. She wasn't intimidated easily and she certainly wasn't intimidated by Jacob Michaels. He was just a boy and no magical training whatsoever; what could he possibly do? "Not as much as I have heard about you, I'm sure." She replied making sure her bored-with-this look was clearly identified. "Happy birthday, by the way. Voice hasn't dropped yet, huh? Bummer."

She inwardly gloated at the pissed look Jacob adopted at her words. She recently may have grown emotionally, but she still enjoyed riling people up. Plus, Alex could practically hear Justin's inward laughter and saw the slight quirk of his lips; that reaction was a definite bonus.

"What are you doing here, Jacob?" Justin repeated Alex's question. It had been bugging him ever since he saw Jacob at the sorting ceremony. Anna, Marie, and Jacob had no formal magic training at all and only the best or people needing the most help were admitted to Wiz Tech. Certainly, the wizard council could have just ordered Fred and Lauren to teach Jacob. That was in their power, was it not?

"The Wizard Council thought I could use some training and so they sent me here." Jacob shrugged lightly.

"Training for what? How to annoy people? Because I think you've got that down pat, Jake." Alex threw back and Justin glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. Alex liked to push people's buttons but she only pushed this hard when she was defending something or someone. He was touched to discover she was defending him, but she needn't do that; he could stand up for himself if the need arose.

"It's Jacob," He snarled frustratured. Jacob had had no true ill will to the Russo girl…at least not until this conversation but now she'd made herself an enemy. Becoming his enemy was a mistake he would make sure both she and Justin would deeply regreted. No one messes with Jacob Michaels...ever.

"Alex," Just interceded here again sensing that this was becoming even more dangerous territory. "We've got to be back in our houses in ten minutes for roll call. We have to go." With that, Justin and Alex walked away from the conversation and vanished from sight using the whispered words of the required spell. It didn't matter; Jacob had learned all that he needed.

* * *

**A/N:** I apologize for how utterly long this took me to finish, but you all should know that I will never ever abandon this story.


	8. Chapter 8

**Title:** The Gold Echo

**Author Name**: TrueLoveFan

**Rating**: PG-13

**Warnings for**: None (for this chapter)

**Notes:**

- Ages: Anna and Jacob are now 14, Marie is 6, Justin is 16, Max is 13, and Alex is 14 about to be 15 in a week.

- The first name is the WizTech house name and second is their similar Hogswarts house.

Alphyn = Gryffindor

Bakunawa = Slytherin

Kelpie = Hufflepuff

Garuda = Ravenclaw

**Disclaimer**:

_**All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of TrueLoveFan. TrueLoveFan is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.**_

* * *

Life at WizTech was complicated, fast paced, and tiring but much easier to handle once Justin and Alex were finally sleeping every night. Sure, it was a bit awkward to wake up latching onto each other. Alex and Justin quickly learned to ignore that in order to preserve their fragile existences.

Raya was finally allowed in on the magically-shared-bed secret when she woke up one morning to find Justin's foot sticking out from behind Alex's bed curtains. She handled really well, but then Raya was cool with anything. She had even taken it upon herself to make sure that Alex and Justin always awoke with enough to time to clear the sleep from their brains and get up on the right side of the bed.

It seemed like every day Alex found she was grateful to have Raya as a friend. She made life at WizTech more bearable. Unfortunately, she also served as a reminder. Sometimes, she would do or say something that would remind the brunette of her former best friend, Harper. Things had gotten really bad between them after the truth about Justin came out. Alex had needed support and Harper had not been there. Looking back on it though, Alex supposed the blame could not solely be placed at Harper's feet. She had become somewhat unreachable during that time and Harper had always been at her best during the happy time; not the sad.

Alex had sent a letter home to be forward to Harper about a week after the Wizards' Way visit. She had not gotten one back yet but then Harper had never been the quickest at letter writing. One summer she went away to summer camp with the promise to write Alex every week. At the end of summer, all Alex had received was a single postcard.

She and Justin had sometimes discussed the letters they received from home before giving into the urge to sleep. Alex did her best to edit her paraphrasing of Anna's letters so she did not to give away that the other girl's secret crush was on Max and she was fairly certain that Justin did the same with Max's letters but neither of them wanted to push the issue. It was better, Alex thought, not to ask; safer for their sanities.

All of it added up to one thing: Alex missed home. WizTech had its benefits and all, but Alex missed her family. She missed her mom, her dad, Max, Anna, Marie, and Justin. She was used to seeing him, all of them, every day. It felt wrong not to do so. However, the aforementioned perks of WizTech did make life easier to bear.

She certainly could not snigger at the ability to use magic any day, every day, and sometimes for no reason at all. It was fun and freeing; spending so many years thinking that uttering about it could have disastrous was hell. It also helped that Raya was at WizTech. Alex could itruly/i be herself with the elder girl. Harper had been Alex's first friend and as a result always had a special place, but Alex always had to keep a part of her hidden. With Raya, everything was out in the open.

In addition, School at WizTech was fun in ways that normal school wasn't. There was no set schedule of classes or consistent plan of learning involved. Some days Alex and Justin don't see each other until bed (because even mealtimes are scattered and haphazard) and other days they will share all of their classes. Raya said that it was only because they're in WizTech summer school and during the normal school; the curriculum's much more structured. All in all, life at WizTech was a constant guessing game and Alex enjoyed every minute of it.

The lessons with Professor Crumbs were especially fun. It wasn't as she had expected at all. The atmosphere was relaxed and calm; there was no pressure or anything remotely resembling lessons. All three of them did for an hour was cast random spell after random spell. Alex had no idea how the random casting was supposed to help her control her magical emotions, but she wasn't going to complain.

After all, how many WizTech students got to say that they turned their Headmaster purple? Just one; Alex.

Her fifteenth birthday was coming up in a week and Alex couldn't wait. She and Justin had both gotten permission to go home for three days to celebrate. It hadn't been that hard to get really; she'd just asked and Professor Crumbs said yes. It was the easiest thing she ever had to do and everything she did was easy.

She didn't really need to do anything to prepare except learn the ins and outs of the Quinceanera. Her mother had mailed her a book about it and a picture of her dress. The dress was pink and puffy, which Alex hated, but she agreed to wear it in spite of all that. It was pretty and she could put away her protests to feel like a princess for one day. The stuff she had to learn though. That was harder. The dances she had to master were complex and the book seemed to be written in Greek. She was never going to learn all of it in time.

"Justin!" Alex said. She giggled as she stepped blindly forward. "Justin, where are we going?"

"Would you just trust me, Alex?" Justin replied with a hint of exasperation in his tone tighten his hands over her eyes slightly. "You'll get us caught if you don't quiet down."

Alex sighed and tried to relax; she hated not being able to see and especially leaving her actions in the hands of others, but this was Justin. Justin had been a guiding force all her life, why should she stopping trust him now? She lowered her voice to a whisper and said, "I do trust you."

"Good because we're here."

Justin pulled his hands from her eyes and stepped up beside her. Alex stood beside him staring into the darkened grand hall confused. It was well past midnight; the grand house tables had been already fold up, shrank to pocket size, and stored in the depths of the castle hidden away from pranksters. The ceiling looked like a normal ceiling now with no one around to keep the enchantment going. Basically, the two of them were standing, just beyond the doors, in a very dark big room.

She doesn't get it.

"Justin, what are we doing here?" Alex isn't big on rules, that's Justin's department, but even she knows that is against WizTech policy. She turned to face him with a sly grin decorating her lips. "Justin Michaels, are you breaking the rules?"

He turned to face her, a twinkle in his eyes, and winked. "Only if we're discovered." He pulled his wand out and lifted it up. "Alex, can you perform the light spell?"

The fourteen-year-old quirked an eyebrow, but she pulled her wand out anyway and cast the spell. "Shed the night, show the light." The ceiling turned pure white as Alex's magic filled it with her overzealous power.

Justin smiled a little and used his wand to cast another spell to rein in the one she had cast. He forced the light to form only on the wicks of the candles he had placed on the rafters earlier.

"Oh wow," Alex couldn't help about stare at the serene light. It was like something out of movie. Something out of a romantic movie. She suddenly felt nervous. "Justin, what-"

"You need to learn how to dance for your Quinceanera, right?" Justin held his arms out parallel from his sides. "I'm your man." With a flick of his wrist, music filled the still air of the Grand Hall. He held out his hand and said, "Can I have this dance, milady?"

She didn't need her Quinceanera; she felt like a princess already.

"Oh, I don't know," Alex joked. "Yes, of course, you can have this dance."

She placed her hand in the one extended toward her and stepped forward into his space. He placed his free hand on her waist and pulled her a few steps closer. She placed her right hand on his left shoulder lightly. He grinned a nodded approvingly at how well she fell into the designated position.

The two teens practiced simplistic versions of various dances for two hours. Each one becoming easier and easier as they moved. Their steps fluid and becoming lost in the music. Before too long, Alex found herself enjoying the process…and her partner.

"How did you learn this stuff?"

"I'm very trough reader." He answered vaguely and then replied in depth. "M-Theresa sent the same book she sent you." He shrugged. "I figured you might need help with the dancing."

"Thanks, Justin." She dropped his hand and pulled him into a hug before Justin could see it coming. She squeezed him hard. "Thanks."

"Of course, Al. You know I'll always have your back."

Alex released the elder boy, but didn't step back. She tilted her head up to look at him and found herself staring straight into his eyes. Alex couldn't move, couldn't look away, couldn't breathe. How had they ended up like this?

Without thinking, because again that was Justin's department, she leaned up on her tiptoes. Their lips connected lightly, sweet like it always seems in those aforementioned romantic movies. Alex found kissing Justin enjoyable, very enjoyable. She pulled away slowly, out of necessity more than desire to do so, and settled back down onto her feet.

She saw the panic forming in Justin's eyes. She didn't blame him. Their situation was weird. Panic was pretty much per the course, but she couldn't let it settle in his brain. If it did, they could never do it again…and she actually wanted it too. Kissing Justin was too wonderful to never experience again.

Alex caught sight of the candles out of the corner of her eye and found a distraction topic. "What's with the candles?"

"Um…I was afraid that turning on the lights would attract attention. I didn't want us to get caught." Alex nodded and used her wand to snuff out the lights and stop the music. The two of them stop in the dark for a second before she linked her left arm into his right and pulled him through the double doors.

"That's why you're the smart one."

He grinned and the panic faded completely.

* * *

**A/N:** Thanks for sticking with me, guys. I told you all I won't abandon this story. Hope you all like this chapter.


	9. Chapter 9

**Title:** The Gold Echo

**Author Name**: TrueLoveFan

**Rating**: PG-13

**Warnings for**: Violence, but not really, and minor language usage.

**Notes:**

- Ages: Anna and Jacob are now 14, Marie is 6, Justin is 16, Max is 13, and Alex is 14 about to be 15 in six days.

- The first name is the WizTech house name and second is their similar Hogswarts house.

Alphyn = Gryffindor

Bakunawa = Slytherin

Kelpie = Hufflepuff

Garuda = Ravenclaw

**Disclaimer**:

_**All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of TrueLoveFan. TrueLoveFan is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.**_

* * *

_This dress was weirdly beautiful; it was the perfect dress for her, which Alex had to admit was a little odd considering she had only worn dresses before this moment under extreme protest. It should be impossible for her to have dress type, but she did and this dress was it. Her mother had picked out for her. Her Quinceanera was important and even the great Alex Russo could store her pride away for this special event…especially considering her mother's blubbery reaction upon seeing her in the dress._

_Dealing with the puffy pink mass would be easy if that was the type of response, she was likely to get from her guests. She turned slowly in the dress trying to see the full effect but she couldn't quite manage it. With a true smile gracing her lips, Alex turned to the full-length mirror beside her…except the image that greeted her wasn't what she expected. Instead of seeing the back of her new outfit, she saw herself in her normal everyday human clothes staring at her over her own shoulder._

_Well, that wasn't right._

_Alex turned to face the mirror head on but the image didn't change. The Alex in the mirror was still scowling and wearing jeans and t-shirt. Real Alex right out, touched the glass of the mirror, and watched as her mirror image did not do the same. What the hell? She was tempted to go Justin, but she couldn't move. She felt as if her feet were glued to the floor._

_Mirror Alex began pacing the, admittedly short, width of the mirror. Alex felt unnerved and slightly defensive as the fake reflection studied her. After a few seconds of the silence, Mirror Alex sighed heavily confusion and anger clearly displayed on her face._

_"Who are you?" Mirror Alex asked quickly._

_"I'm Alex Russo. Who are you?" Alex replied shortly._

_"You are not Alex Russo." The reflection replied confidently with her hands secured on her hips with ease. "I'm Alex Russo." _

_Alex groaned frustrated with the conversation already. She bent down to her leg to pull out her wand but came up empty handed. There was no room in her half-inch heels for her wand. She cast her gaze about the room trying to find the missing object, but having no luck. Outside the room, she could hear the first chords of music start up. Soon it would be to exit her dressing room and join the festivities._

_"You should have tried harder." That statement brought Alex's gaze back to the glass and the annoyance behind it. "You hardly put any effort at all in pretending to be me."_

_"I'm not pretending!" Alex shouted at the Mirror Alex; she had to be outside at the party in under a minute. She couldn't waste any more time on this. _

_Mirror Alex actually scoffed at her and raised an eyebrow. Alex had a new understanding as to why that bugged her family so much. She would have to apologize for it later…and try not to do it as much._

_"Okay, first, your outfit's all wrong. Pink and frills, really?"_

_"Mom picked this dress out especially for this occasion. I couldn't really say no."_

_"Of course, you could say no! I say no all the time. My life is all about me." Mirror Alex declared stepping a few steps closer to the glass. Alex stepped back instinctively. "Secondly, did I see a smile early?"_

_"Well I-"_

_"Let's say I buy your story," Mirror Alex said suddenly. There was a light in her eyes that made Alex very uncomfortable._

_"What the hell happened to you?" Mirror Alex tsk-ed unhappily and stepped right up to the glass. "You can't be Alex Russo. It's impossible." She stepped through the glass just as Alex's back hit the wall until to the door. Alex tried to move, run, scream, anything as Mirror Alex stepped closer and closer to her. "If you aren't gonna live your life right," She said quietly. "Then I'm gonna live it for you."_

_Alex barely had time to gasp in pain as the knife slid in-_

Alex bolted upright a scream ripping unbidden from her throat. Justin awoke beside her, confused and a little bit scared, but she was too busy running into the bathroom to notice. She barely made into the bathroom, through to the first stall and over to the toilet before her dinner wretched itself out of her mouth.

She was not surprised when she heard the main door creak open a few seconds later or when she felt the hand on her back as someone knelt down behind her to hold her hair. She was, however, surprised when it wasn't Justin's voice whispering words of comfort to her.

"Just breathe through it, Alex. Just breathe."

Alex rested her head back against the hard plastic of the bathroom stall wall watching as the toilet was magically scrubbed clean. God, she loved the way magic was the norm here; she would never be used to it. "Raya." She whispered, her voice slightly broken by tears that were still falling. "Raya, I'm different. This isn't me, you know? Everything that happened…it has changed me."

Raya did not know; she had only known Alex after everything, but the younger girl felt the need to tell her so she would listen. The sixteen-year-old sat on Alex's left side resting her shoulders in the corner between the stall wall and door. Her feet were a few inches away of touching the taller girl. She tiredly reached and pulled the heavy plastic door shut. No one else was going to come in the bathroom at such a late hour but Raya got the feeling that the conversation was important and private.

"I used be bratty, sarcastic, inconsiderate, and condensing especially to Justin. I was reckless with magic; I never even considered the consequences."

"I don't understand. This change sounds like a good thing; I never would have liked the old you. In fact, we might have even been enemies."

Raya turned her head to look at her best friend. The other girl was stretched so thin and it seemed that whatever her nightmare had been about, it had caused her to snap. The young wizard felt out of her depth trying to process and understand what was going through Alex's mind. She was tempted to go get Justin and have him force the pieces of Alex back into the right shape. The two of them were so twisted up in each other that Raya had no doubt that Justin could fix it. However, Alex was her best friend and right now, that fact she needed Raya to listen overtook whatever part of her was telling her to fetch Justin.

"I also used to be independent, determined, sure of myself and my place in the world. I knew who I was, what I wanted out of life, and how to get it." Alex whispered as she scrubbed at her face with frustrated hands. The image of Mirror Alex, thirteen and so very anger at how Alex had turned out, wouldn't leave her alone. She felt as if she had betrayed that version of herself. Nevertheless, everyone grows and changes; time doesn't stop for any one person.

"And now?" Raya prompted quietly not pushing but urging. It was two thirty in the morning, after all. They both needed some serious sleep before tomorrow's classes.

"Now? Now, I'm not bratty or reckless with magic and I consider all the consequences of every move I make. I'm less inconsiderate and sarcastic and I try not to talk down to people. But, I'm not sure of anything anymore. I don't know where I belong or where I want life to go and I need people now." Alex paused, exhausted my mere act of confessing her deepest feelings. "I need _him_ now…even more then I did before and that's saying something."

Raya scrubbed her eyes with the heels of her hands; sleep would have to wait. This was more important then she thought. She was kind of regretting not going back out there and pulling Justin from his shared bed, consequences be damned, but it was much too late now. She would have to help Alex as best she could and hope she was doing it right.

"There's nothing wrong with all that, Lex." She supplied softly hoping her nickname for the younger girl would help soften some of the pain she was feeling. "No one knows where they belong or what they want out of life…not at our age, anyway." She scouted closer to Alex and threw her arms around her shoulders. Then, much like diving into the deep end of a pool for the very first time, Raya closed her eyes and hoped she didn't screw the next part up too badly.

"Needing people is a fundamental part of life, Alex. It's what life is all about: connections, friendships, love. Without it, there would be no point. You shouldn't shy away from it." Raya squeezed her best friend's shoulders lightly and pulled away. "Otherwise, you might end up an angry old cat lady and that would suck."

Alex laughed lightly, wiped feebly at her eyes, and stood on slightly shaky legs. "Yeah," She agreed. "It would suck."

Raya got up too and together they exited the stall. Alex rinsed her mouth out with water a couple of times before heading back out to the dorm. It was as Alex went to pull open the door that Raya remembered; she still had one issue to address.

"Justin needs you just as much."

Alex stopped, letting the door close without exiting. "He does?" Her voice was once more a whisper but even so, Raya could hear the thread of doubt in it.

"Of course he does! He wouldn't have been so worried if he didn't."

"He was worried?"

Raya rolled her eyes and put her hand on Alex's shoulder. "I know it's two in the morning and you're all," She waved her free hand in the air randomly as a way of explanation and then continued on. "but, honestly, girl! How did you think I knew you were in here? I couldn't hear you through my curtains. He risked getting caught in the girl's dormitory for you."

Without another word, Raya left the bathroom and Alex trailed behind her numbly.

"Everything okay?" Justin asked as Alex climbed back into their bed. She pulled the curtains closed behind her and without any warning at all threw her arms around his shoulders. "What ever did I do to deserve this?" His question was muffled by the hug but Alex understood him clearly.

"Thank you, Justin," She whispered the events of the early morning dream and subsequent conversation lingering her mind. Even with all the reassurance that Raya had given her, Alex was still a bit haunted by her dream. "Thank you for everything."

Justin pulled back, concerned; spontaneous declarations was sometimes an indicator of suicidal tendencies. Normally, he wouldn't worry about it. Alex was a strong girl, stronger than anyone else he had ever known, but normality went out the window a long time ago. Life had gotten so complicated, so twisted around, he couldn't be sure of how she was handling that…not really.

"Alex, what's going on?"

The younger girl smiled and let herself fall back to her side of the bed. "Nothing bad. I just had a nightmare that…forced me to face something I had been doing my best to pretend wasn't true."

Curiosity made the sixteen year old inquire even though it was all her business. "What was the something?"

"Nothing important anymore." Alex responded snuggling into the bed and Justin's arms. She laid her head down upon her pillow and let sleep claim her. Justin smiled down at her and then let sleep claim him too.

* * *

The morning arrived much too soon for the three teens that really would have enjoyed a few hours more sleep. Mondays were horrible days in Alex's opinion; there was nothing redeeming about them at all. Of course, various factors influenced her view of the day: the fact she woke up alone, accidently tripped on her bedpost thus landing hard on her right wrist, and her magic was acting up more than usual.

Alex knew as soon as she took her seat at the Alphyn table next to Raya that her emotions were controlling her magic again today. The second she was seated both Raya and the girl on Alex's other side were propelled further down the bench away from the soon to be fifteen-year-old. There was a faint 'oomph' and a 'hey!' shouted from the far away ends of table as the individual who sat on the ends of the long bench were forced onto the floor. Raya tried to slide back into her original seat, but Alex's magic shot out again creating a wall of magic to keep her away.

"Sorry." Alex mumbled pulling her wand from her boot. Professor Crumbs had shown her a simple and wordless spell to rein her magic in when it went a little bit crazy. She waved her wand at the wall in the pattern and waited. The wall collapsed soundlessly and Alex tapped her forearm with her wand tip to redirect the wayward magic back to her. The magic floated over and hovered before being absorbed into her skin.

The elder girl slid back into her seat slowly just in case her best friend's magic decided it didn't like her again. Nothing happened and Raya went back to eating her breakfast, pretending nothing happened. Alex wasn't in control of her magic in the same way that Raya was and the sixteen-year-old couldn't really get mad at the other witch for it. The girl seated on Alex's left, on the other hand, settled for glaring at her when Alex began to make a breakfast plate.

"What happened?" Raya asked quietly. After one month, three week, and one day as Alex's friend, she knew that there was a correlation between the wayward magic and Alex's bad moods, which were usually related to Justin. Alex was attempting let Justin led them whatever their future relationship would be and as a result, her feelings were being buried. That wasn't good for her emotional or mental state. Raya would know, her mother had gone through something similar and it had nearly to destroyed her, but Alex was beyond and determined not show her feelings first.

"Nothing." Alex replied automatically taking a bite of her apple to give her a moment to think. "I just…I hate waking up alone now. It feels wrong."

Sympathetically, Raya put her arm around her shoulder and squeezed. "Being apart is hard." She commented taking her arm off the other girl so she could cut her pancakes. "Last summer, Gabriel and I passed all of our classes with flying colors. I'm taking straight As here so we went home for the vacation. It was nice to be home, you know, and not having to go to class was awesome." She took a bite of her pancakes before continuing. "Unfortunately, he's from New Jersey and I'm not. We didn't see each other in person all summer. It sucked."

Alex nodded in understanding and the rest of breakfast continued in silence.

Her day picked up after breakfast when her schedule for that day's classes arrived. She went to her first class to discover that she and Justin had that class and the following it together. There was no time to ask him about his disappearing act that morning because the Care of Magical Creatures teacher came in right way and began lecturing them.

Once the teacher released them to do their assignments in partners, Justin and Alex talked about the assignment and any little thing that came to their minds. It was fun having Justin in class; they worked seamlessly together as they always had and it was more enjoyable that any class she had before.

The company they had in their second class, Potions, made it less enjoyable, though Alex did fight hard not to let Jacob's annoying presence affect them too. Ronald had arrived late to class, rushed and out of breathe, and stuck as Jacob's unfortunate partner in their assignment. The two boys chose the table next to the brunettes so that Ronald could talk to Justin and Alex frowned, put out. She sees so little of Justin. It wasn't fair that Ronald take up her Justin time too.

The glass breakers on both tables shattered as Alex's magic reacted to her frustration. Justin looked at her with a raised eyebrow, but said nothing, he simply pulled out his wand and used his magic to fix everything that her magic had broken and spilled. She was just glad that it was a small burst and it wasn't like this morning's burst or one where Justin had to help her pull it back in; that would be so embarrassing!

"Everything okay, Alexandra?" Jacob asked pointedly glancing down at her trembling hands.

"My name's Alex. " She replied through gritted teeth as she gripped the table to keep from punching Justin's younger brother. There was just something utterly off about the boy. Every time he opened his mouth, Alex got the barely controllable urge to let her rampant magic loose on him. Alex had to resort to her favorite, least lethal weapon: her wit. "It's only four letters. Why you can't remember it? Do you think it has something to do with your tiny brain?"

"I have an intelligence quotient of 150!" Jacob screeched drawing attention from the tables nearby.

"Is that all?" Justin asked, seemingly uninterested, as he stirred the purple potion around and around in the beaker. Alex smirked as she watched Jacob's face turned a gross shade of red. People were just so easy to rile up.

Jacob shrieked, reminding Alex and Justin of the hideous sound Max used to make when he was a baby and needed to be changed. He launched himself at Justin, who jumped out of the way of his brother only to push Alex backwards. She tried to catch herself using the edge of the lab table, but couldn't quite get a grip on it. The floor was uncomfortable as she banged her head on the cobblestone floor and stars swam in her vision.

Both boys turned to her, shocked at her sudden involvement. Justin bent down and pulled her up. Apologies were on his lips, but the Potions teacher had other ideas. The Potions teacher had always looked sketchy to Alex, like he was contemplating where to hide the dead bodies of his students without being caught, and now he looked pissed enough to do just that.

"This is a classroom," His voice was oddly calm as he glared at the three of them. "Not a place for rough housing! Three points from Alphyn, Garuda, and Bakunawa each!" Almost all of the students in the class with them groaned at the proclamation.

Alex shook her head trying to clear so that she could focus on the teacher's words and not where he would bury bodies in the castle. The action only made the dizziness. Unfortunately, this drew his attention solely to her.

"You disagree, Ms. Russo?"

"Sir," Ronald interrupted. "She hit her head pretty hard when Justin knocked her over. She wasn't disagreeing with you."

"Yes," Justin agreed looking ashamed. "She was probably just trying to clear her head."

The Potions teacher paused considering their words and then turned to Justin. "Did you two finish your potion?"

"Yes, sir." Justin said and a second later, he realized what his teacher was thinking. He poured some of the dark violet color potion into a test tube and handed it to Alex.

"Justin, wha-"

"Drink it, Alex. It will make the pain go away for awhile."

Alex drank it down in one go. She trusted Justin implicitly and if he said told her to drink a potion then she would do just that. He took the test tube back and set it carefully back down on the lab table.

"Take her to the nurse." It was an order that Justin didn't hesitate to obey. He slipped an arm around Alex's waist, despite her protests and helped her exit the dungeon. The potion would only block the pain for about half an hour, the nurse would be able to give her a more permanent solution.

No one noticed Jacob's grin or the poorly executed fist bump he and Ronald shared under their lab table as the two brunettes left.

* * *

**A/N:** Hope you like this chapter and I am sorry, in advance, for that little cliffhanger!


	10. Chapter 10

**Title:** The Gold Echo

**Author Name**: TrueLoveFan

**Rating**: PG-13

**Warnings for**: Violence, but not really, and minor language usage.

**Notes:**

- Ages: Anna and Jacob are now 14, Marie is 6, Justin is 16, Max is 13, and Alex is 14 about to be 15 in a day.

- The first name is the WizTech house name and second is their similar Hogswarts house.

Alphyn = Gryffindor

Bakunawa = Slytherin

Kelpie = Hufflepuff

Garuda = Ravenclaw

**Disclaimer**:

_**All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of TrueLoveFan. TrueLoveFan is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.**_

* * *

Alex woke the next morning to the smell of Lysol and the sound of groaning from two beds over; her head hurt and she felt as if she hadn't slept all night, but that didn't matter because she going home today, finally. She sat up slowly letting the stiff white sheet fall to her waist and swung her feet off the bed. The floor was cold when her bare feet touched it and she scurried over to the chair at the bed of the bed to grab her shoes and other stuff. Putting her shoes on proved to be a more daunting task then normal, especially given the extreme degree of dizziness, but she managed it. The squeak of her shoes alerted the nurse to the fact Alex was awake and moving around.

"What are you doing out of bed, young lady?" The nurse was clearly tired and not in the mood for any of the sarcastic comments that Alex had on the tip of her tongue. Luckily, for her, Alex did not feel up to being sarcastic; she didn't feel up to being anything. So she settled for the truth.

"I have to go. I'm headed home today for three days and I haven't packed yet."

"You hit your head pretty hard Ms. Russo. I won't recommend casting any traveling spells today. The tax the caster too much and tend to cause lightheadedness. I'm afraid that would aggravate-"

"It's my birthday tomorrow."Alex whispered. She felt teary all of the sudden and turned her face away from the nurse; she didn't cry in front of other people, it was weak. She had been so looking forward to going home! She would never admit it in her letters home, but she missed her family terribly. It was weird not to see Max and her parents every day, she missed helping Marie tie her pink shoes every morning, and she had gotten used to watching modeling shows with Anna. She needed to go home!

The nurse gave a small sigh and placed her hand on Alex's shoulder. "I guess I could cast the spell for you. It would decrease the aftereffects on you." Alex let the smile show on her face in gratitude and the worn nurse returned it. "Go get packed and be back in one hour. I'll you get home." Needing no more prompting then that, Alex tore out of the hospital wing heedless of the "No running!" that the nurse shouted after her.

The Alphyn common room was empty as Alex run through and up the stairs. The dorm was empty as well when she entered, but one glance at the clock by the bathroom door told her it was breakfast time. Her stomach growled, but she ignored it. Her mom would make her breakfast at home; that was definitely worth putting off eating for an hour! Her head spun a little as she came to a halt beside her bed; perhaps the nurse was right to warn her off running. She shook off the feeling and opened her trunk. She threw item after item, leaving out only the items she would need to get ready for the day, into the thing until it could barely close. With her wand in hand, the brunette shrunk the trunk until it was tiny enough to fit in the pocket of her school robe. Man, was she ever glad that Professor Crumbs taught her that spell!

"There you are!" Raya exclaimed as she wrapped her arms around Alex's shoulders in a tight hug. "I was worried you were gonna go home without saying goodbye to me."

Alex turned around so she faced her best friend. "Of course not." She said as she walked into the bathroom, Raya following close behind. "You're still gonna come tomorrow, right?" Alex washed her face and brushed her teeth and hair before she began her makeup routine.

"Absolutely. Gabriel and I will be there around noon to help set up." Raya replied, inspecting her reflection critically in the mirror beside Alex. She grabbed Alex's eyeliner off the counter and began fixing her fading line. The almost fifteen-year-old smiled; it was nice to have someone feel so comfortable around her. Harper used to be like that; Harper used to be Alex's sister-from-another-mister, but now they were barely acquaintances. She responded yes for Alex's Quinceanera and Alex held a flicker of hope in her heart that they could find their way back to being friends. Raya placed the eyeliner in Alex's open hand and blush brush from where it sat on the counter. Whether or not she and Harper found their way, at least Alex had Raya.

"You don't need to do that, Ray. My family can handle it."

"I want to! I'm super excited to meet everyone and see where you live. It'll be cool to know that mortal part of you." The shorter girl's bubbly personality made its appearance in the way that she bounced on her heels at the thought.

"Don't expect too much, Ray. It's just a house, like everyone else's…with the exceptions of being on top of a sub shop and containing a wizard's lair, of course."

"Of course." Raya agreed as if those two things were mundane sending both girls into a fit of laughter. Once the laughter subsided and Alex packed all of her stuff away in her bathroom bag, Raya asked the question that had been bugging her since she found Alex. "How did you do last night sleeping alone?"

"They gave me a sedative, but I feel like I didn't sleep at all."

"I'm not surprised." Raya replied as Alex shrunk her bathroom bag down to the size of her trunk and slipped into the same pocket. The brown-eyed girl looked around the dorm searching out any wayward items she might have missed; there was none. Sensing their time together coming to a close, Raya pulled Alex into another hug. "Write me as soon as you can so I know you get home alright?"

Alex nodded. "Will do." The two friends hugged once more before Alex left the dorm behind her and headed back to the hospital wing. It was time to go home.

Lightheadedness hit Alex as soon as she landed in their living room. Before, she could even adjust to her new surroundings though, she found herself in case by several pairs of arms. Choruses of things like "Happy early Birthday!" and "You're home!" rang out around her amplifying her feelings of lightheaded and dizziness, but Alex smiled nonetheless. Finally, she was home!

"Guys, I can't breathe." She faked gasping for air and the crowd was quick to back off. She looked at all of them individually. Theresa was openly crying and Jerry looked close to it. Marie was practically vibrating with happy energy, holding a construction paper crown in her hands. Max stood next to the six-year-old pretending not to be effected by his older sister's return, but Alex knew he cared. Anna stood next to Max, quiet and unobtrusive as possible, but she was smiling so big that her teeth were showing; she was clearly making progress socially. Justin stood next to his middle sister just watching the reunion play out. Alex hugged them each in turn. She bent down when she reached Marie so that the little girl could settle the glittery, slightly bent up, crown on her head. She couldn't help but place a quick kiss to the six-year-old's cheek in thanks, making Marie giggle in happiness.

Dinner was even more of an affair then Alex remembered as everyone at the table felt the need to tell her and Justin about all that had happened since the two had left for WizTech. Anna read some amazing books and Max taught her to play basketball. Alex was pleased to note that both Max and Anna were sporting matching light blushes when she made a light jab about how much time they were spending together. Max had really started to apply himself to his Wizard studies; he wanted to go to summer school at Wiz Tech the following year. Jerry had created three new subs for the sub shop and Theresa was busy trying to get the girls up to speed for the coming school year. Marie had learned to tie her own shoes, which, despite the smile she plastered on, made Alex sad, and she was madly in love with fairytales. Apparently, she made Anna and Max read them to her every night before bed because "Anna makes a pretty princess and Max is a good handsome prince!" The two blushed at this as well and Alex couldn't help her smirk.

Dessert became interrogation time as Justin and Alex were mobbed with question after question about WizTech. Were the other kids nice? What were their favorite classes? Who was the hardest teacher? Who was the easiest teacher? What were the houses like? How were their grades? Were they having fun? Had the met the ghost that roams the halls? Was WizTech helping them adjust to their magic? When would they be home? Were any of their friends, besides Raya and Ronald, coming to the party tomorrow? That question sent the discussion spiraling into Quinceanera territory that led to the girls running off to get ready for the party while the guys did the mountain of dishes. The boys groaned.

"It's either let us go now and do the dishes or we all do the dishes together and the three of you have to sit through hours of night-before party prep…including watching the girls model dress after dress after dress." Theresa's thinly veiled threat got the guys to do the dishes and quit moaning faster than ever before. The girls laughed and grinned as they headed to Alex and Anna's room to plan.

"'M tired." Marie whined, tugging on the hem of Theresa's shirt to get her attention. The older women turned to look at her. A quick glance at the clock displayed the late hour: 12 PM. It was way past her bedtime and in all honesty, they were all quite exhausted.

"Okay, sweetheart, let's get you to bed." Theresa scooped Marie up into her arms and the little girl clung to her. Her eyes were half closed when she turned to face Alex amid the chaos in the bedroom and said,

"Happy birthday, Alex!" Marie shouted with the last of her energy and then she settled her head on Theresa's shoulder letting her eyes drop fully closed. Silence fell over them as Anna and Alex set about returning their shared room back to a relatively organized state of chaos. They were not use to working together in such a way so they kept getting in each other's way. Finally, Alex couldn't handle the quiet; she had never been good at that.

"So, no bedtime stories for you tonight, huh?"

"No, thank heavens. Last night, she made us read Snow White and kept trying to convince us that Max had to kiss me."

"Sounds awkward…"

"It was." The two of them went back to work without conversation.

The creak of the door opening and closing attracted Alex's attention. Anna was still in her bed; Alex had spent the last fifteen minutes squinting her eyes trying to morph the younger girl's shadow into something else. Tension coiled in her stomach and her toes curled under her covers in apprehension. The deliberately soft footsteps moved closer and closer to her bed as Alex watched the vague outline, she could see in the darkness, progress forward along the wall. She knew plenty of spells to protect herself, to do something, but with the unpredictability of her magic, Alex couldn't risk it; Anna was too close and it was too dark to make anything out with certainty.

The mysterious figure rounded the other side of Alex's bed and folded back the covers. Fear froze her muscles as the shadow climbed into her bed beside her and settled in. It wasn't until arms encircled her waist that she could move again. She slammed her elbow back hard and screamed. Anna shot up startled and turned on the glittery light besides her bed. The yellow glow revealed her intruder to be Justin.

"Alex!" He whispered harshly, wheezing harshly through his mouth, as he stood beside her bed holding his stomach. "What the hell?"

"What the hell? _What the hell? _What the hell do you think _you're_ doing?" Alex staged whispered furiously.

"I'm exhausted. I didn't get any sleep last night so I am trying to get some now." Justin explained with an eye roll. Sometimes, he just didn't get Alex's mood swings.

Alex stood from her bed and faced him. "In my bed? Are you crazy? I barely even _know you_!"

* * *

**A/N:** This chapter took for-freaking-ever, I know. Anyone else really sad about the end of _Wizards_ in a couple of days? :*(


	11. Chapter 11

**Title:** The Gold Echo

**Author Name**: TrueLoveFan

**Rating**: PG-13

**Warnings for**: Violence, but not really, and minor language usage.

**Notes:**

- Ages: Anna and Jacob are now 14, Marie is 6, Justin is 16, Max is 13, and Alex's birthday is in this chapter.

- The first name is the WizTech house name and second is their similar Hogswarts house.

Alphyn = Gryffindor

Bakunawa = Slytherin

Kelpie = Hufflepuff

Garuda = Ravenclaw

**Disclaimer**:

_**All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of TrueLoveFan. TrueLoveFan is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.**_

* * *

"What do you mean you barely know him?" Anna asked; breaking the silence that had fallen over the bedroom since Alex made the pronouncement. She stood just behind her brother facing the Russo daughter.

"I meant exactly what I said, Anna. I know he's your brother and all, but I don't really know him." Alex replied. She was too tired to deal with this; she hadn't slept well in two days and her birthday party was tomorrow. She needed all the rest she could get.

"This isn't a funny joke, Al." Justin said.

"I'm not the one joking here."

"You're not joking?" Alex shook her head in the negative and folded her arms across her chest. He ran his hand through his hair, pulling on it in his confusion. He stepped away from both girls and began to pace between their beds. She wasn't joking. "Okay, okay…so what's going on?"

"What's going is that you crawled into my bed in the middle of the night, acting as if that's perfectly alright, and you both are looking at me like I'm the crazy one." Alex supplied angrily.

"It's just-" Anna started, taking a seat upon Alex's bed. "We are confused, Alex."

The elder woman sat beside Anna on her own bed with a frustrated huff. "Why?"

"Because you've known Justin your whole life."

"Since the day you were born." Justin supplied, wearing a hole in the carpet where he paced. "I held you in my arms and you were so small. Mom- Theresa said that it was my responsibility to protect you, that you weren't capable of taking care of yourself, not yet." He couldn't help the tears in his eyes as he looked over at her. She seemed unmoved by his words and he wanted to scream. How could she not know him?

"Look, guys, I love you both, but it is too early in the day to be dealing with this. I am exhausted, so are you, and tomorrow is a big day. Could we maybe deal with this after breakfast or something?" Anna inquired as she moved back over to her own bed.

"Whatever," Alex answered, slipping back under her covers. "There's just one thing I gotta know right now. Why were you trying to get in my bed? That's perverted."

Anna answered before the shock of being called a pervert wore off Justin. "You don't remember this, clearly, but in order to sleep you and Justin have sleep in the same bed. That's the gist of it anyway. If you want to get any shuteye tonight, let him sleep in your bed." Alex considered Anna's words for a few seconds. She trusted Anna; she'd never lie to her.

"Keep your hands to yourself." The birthday girl insisted, staring the man down, and Justin held up his hands in front of him submissively. "An elbow to your stomach will be the least of your problems if you don't." He nodded and Alex flipped the covers back on the right side of the bed and waved her arm in a wide arc. "Get in. I'm tired."

Justin nodded quickly and climbed in beside her. Alex bent down over her side of the bed and pulled several teddy bears from underneath it. She placed the plush toys carefully in the limited space between them. He tried not to be offended by that; Alex had no reason to trust him. Once she was satisfied that the line would keep them apart during the night, the birthday girl settled on her side of the bed.

"Night," Anna said, turning off her bedroom light casting their shared bedroom into darkness. "Sleep well." Both of them were fast asleep before she even finished the sentence.

* * *

The next morning before the three of them had time to discuss what they had discovered the previous night they were swept off in different directions to prepare for the party. Luckily for them, when Jerry came to wake the girls, he thought to knock on the door, giving Justin enough time to hide under the bed. Once they were dressed and fed, the three of them were given individual duties that put them in different parts of the house for hours. Then when lunchtime came and Justin finally thought they were going to get a chance to work the problem out, Raya and Gabriel arrived. Alex was pulled away then to introduce her new friends to her family and show them around their home.

It was only fifteen minutes before Alex's Quinceanera that Justin managed to get all the young wizards together. He pulled them all toward the sub shop's kitchen, specifically the wizard's lair. Alex tripped a few times trying to keep up with the rest of them in her pink dress, Justin reaching out to steady her each time. "Where are you all going?"

They turned as a group to face the doorway to the kitchen and faced Theresa. She looked tired, worn, and worried. Today was stressful enough for Theresa and Jerry; Justin didn't want to add to that. Max came up with a response before Justin could do so. "We're putting all of our wands in the lair so that we aren't tempted to use them during the party."

"Oh," Theresa said, straightening her shirt, "Good because you know-"

"'my family are coming and doing magic in front of them would be bad, very bad.'" Justin, Max, Anna, Marie, and Alex finished for her. Theresa smiled a little and left them alone to put their wands away.

"Good thinking, Max." The birthday girl complimented as Anna pulled open the freezer door. They all stepped through the opening and into the Wizards Lair. Justin went straight over to the spell book and began flipping through it like mad. Anna stood behind him, looking over his shoulder at the various spells contained within. Max and Marie settled beside each other on the couch and started thumb wrestling. Alex flopped down in her recliner, her dress poofing out around her within the limits of the chair and Raya and Gabriel just stood awkwardly in front of the study table.

"Anyone gonna tell me why we are in here?" Raya asked after a few seconds of silence. The goal was clearly not to simply put their wands away for safe keeping.

"Someone's messed with Alex's memories." Justin replied without taking his eyes off the old book in front of him. Raya and Gabriel crowded around the book then too.

"How deep does the change go?" Gabriel asked. "Is it memory modification or memory erasing?" Justin turned to face the Kelpie a little shocked. The boy was so quiet preferring to simply nod then speak in their presence. Even Alex turned in her chair to look at him. He shrugged and explained, "My father's a specialty wizard. He deals in memory spells."

"What's the difference?" The middle Michaels' child asked from her position next to her brother.

"Memory erasing is easier on the person implementing it, but it leaves the victim with empty spaces in their mind. There is an inherent danger of the victim being driven insane, searching for the memories that no longer exist."

"And memory modification?" Raya inquired. Gabriel talked about his family very rarely so she knew that discussing what he had learned from his father's work was hard for him. The faster they got off this topic, the less time Gabriel had to wear that pinched look on his face.

"That's more complicated; multiple people would be required to pull it off. The implementer would have created replacement memories and then those would be layered atop the old ones. The good news is that these fake are very fragile and once you find the trigger to unlock the real memories the fake ones will fall away. The bad news is that the trigger could be anything: sights, sounds, smells, anything." Gabriel explained. "We need to which one was inflicted upon Alex."

"Did it ever occur to any of you," Alex said as she stood from her recliner in an angry quick motion. "That maybe you are all the ones with changed memories?"

"All of us?" Max inquired from his seat upon the couch; Marie trapped his thumb in the seconds that followed. Alex opened her mouth, turning slightly toward her only brother, but stopped. She got a look on her face, one that Justin recognized as her consideration face. He knew that she was realizing how far reaching her point was and he knew that he had to jump upon it before she built another reason to believe they were wrong.

"Come on, Al," Justin said stepping around the others too stand in front of her. "You know that we are right about this."

Alex looked him in the eyes, but the light of recognition that he usually found there was noticeably missing. There was a moment of awkward silence before the birthday girl huffed and said, "Fine! How do we figure this out?" When no one responded with the exception of numerous head tilts from all of the other people in the lair, Alex snapped, "I don't like knowing someone's messing with my mind, changing things!"  
Justin wanted to comfort Alex as he always did, but he knew that such an action would not be welcomed. It was Raya who pulled her into a hug instead making Justin feel completely useless. She redirected the birthday girl back into the recliner. Gabriel followed behind his girlfriend closely.

"Well, I have to see what I am dealing with. First, you should know is that I am not a trained memory wizard. I'm just saying that for legal reasons; I can totally handle this. Second, I'm going to magically map your brain. You'll feel a little tingly sensation, but that is all." Gabriel removed his wand from his typical hiding place and waved it clockwise twice and counterclockwise once over the crown of Alex's beautifully styled hair. He said words that none of the others could make out from the positions. The tip of his wand glowed and then a string of the same color connected his wand and her head. He slowly pulled his wand back from her head and once clear of her body, he swished his wand from left to right and right to left.

Everyone else watched as the glow from the wand became a gold line laid out upon their study table. All of them crowded around the table to watch. "This," Gabriel started, turning slightly to face the birthday girl at his side. "Is the timeline of your memory. Everything that has ever happened to you that you remember is documented here. This is what, if anything, has been altered."

He turned toward Justin who was standing in between Marie and Raya. "We need an idea where to start looking. It will take too long to comb randomly through fourteen years of memories. Ask her about a memory from her childhood that heavily involves you."

"Okay…um…Alex, how did you learn to ride your bike?"

The brunette rolled her eyes; that was an easy one! She…she could not remember. How could she not recall that? Everyone learns to ride a bike and she could ride a bike. She remembered riding her bike to visit Harper once upon a time. "I don't know. I know that I can, but I don't remember learning it."

Gabriel made an 'hmmm' sound and attached his wand to the golden memory line again near the first of it. He pulled his wand back toward his shoulder and that section of the line got bigger. From this closer perspective, the onlookers could see AGE labels on the line. He touched the line again and moved his wand upward as far as he could reach: this allowed them all to see the specifics of the line with such labels as RIDING BIKE and DAD'S BIRTHDAY. "That's odd." Gabriel said, reaching out to touch the string carefully.

"What's wrong?" Marie asked straining to see what everyone else was looking at. She wasn't really tall enough; she could barely see above the edge of the table.

"There's….memory block here." He pointed to the barely visible grey section about the width of a single hair horizontally cutting through the gold color. "A memory block is a strong wall that the caster has created to block off all of Alex's memories from her cognitive recall. Everything that happened to her before last year, she will not be able to remember. This is a simple spell, would barely take any time at all to cast. The faster the wall is broken though the better."

"Why?" Alex asked. "What happens if it doesn't get broken through?"

"Memories live on recall; without it memories die. The longer it stands the more likely your memories will die and be forever forgotten."

"How do we break through it?" Max asked, taking ahold of his sister's hand out of sight. Alex was grateful for the action and squeezed his hand in thanks.

"You just have to remind her of things that happened. Her mind will search for the memory automatically and every attempt to get through will crack the wall eventually bringing it down."

"But Alex doesn't remember some things that happened this year too!" Anna responded, frustrated by all this talk and no action. The Kelpie attached his wand once more to Alex's memory line, replaced the youth part back where it belongs, he then zoomed in on the newest memories at the end.

"Justin, ask her about a more recent memory, please."

"A week ago, we snuck down to the Grand Hall late at night…do you remember that?" Justin asked, ignoring the chuckles and snickers from the others, and Gabriel followed Alex's memory recall to the one in question.

"Yes, I remember that…but I wasn't with you."

"This memory has been modified." The Kelpie declared before Justin could ask her who she was with. Gabriel looked closer at the modifications, but found nothing to indicate the casters. He was, however, able to trace the modifications to all of Alex's memories of Justin over the past year. "Whoa. Someone is seriously dedicated to screwing with your mind, Alex. Casting something of this magnitude takes a great amount of work. I've never seen anything this extensive before and I've seen a lot of these." With his examination done, he return the memory line back in Alex's head and the fifteen-year-old shivered.

Just then the door to the lair opened and Jerry walked in. "What are you all doing in here? Everyone's here and waiting for the arrival of the birthday girl."

"We were all putting our wands away." Justin supplied easily.

Jerry raised an eyebrow, "For twenty minutes?"

"We got caught up talking about WizTech, daddy." Alex informed, reaching up to kiss her father's cheek as she passed him. The others followed behind her in a line.

"Um, guys?" Jerry called, turning to face the group bunched up at the lair's door. They looked back at him confused. "Your wands." He made a sweeping motion toward their hands and all of them looked down.

"Oh, right." Anna said and all seven of them rushed back over to the study table and put their various wands down. Jerry placed two additional wands down as well and then the group of eight left the lair behind them.

Once they were all in the kitchen, Justin turned around to ask. "whose were those?" The others ignored the question and took off for the fabulous ball that they were all late for.

"Professor Crumbs and your friend, Ronald, arrived while you all were chatting."

By the time, Justin arrived at the party, everything was in full swing. People who used to be family members to him came up to him and said hello. A few even asked him about his feelings concerning Alex becoming a "woman." To be honest, he didn't know how he felt about that fact. He could see how grown up Alex had become especially since the truth about his origins came to light. He still felt as if she needed protection. She may be a "woman" now, but she was still his Alex….whether she remembered it or not.

He fought his way through the crowd searching out the birthday girl in her brightly colored dress. With all these people she would not remember around her, Justin thought it would be best if he was around to cover for her. If he could break through the memory block and modifications in the meantime, well so much the better.

* * *

**A/N**: Is anyone still reading this? 3


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